A Star is Torn: Rewind the Music

Jennifer Weiner is a virtuoso at writing women.  Our dreams, our insecurities, and our obstacles.  And the way we're trapped into fighting each other when it's men who make the rules.  Her latest novel, The Griffin Sisters' Greatest Hits, spotlights what it means to be a woman -- and a sister -- amid the grit and glam of the music industry.

The Grossberg sisters are an unlikely pair.  Pretty, popular Zoe was born to perform, but her singing is mediocre.  Overweight outcast Cassie is a piano prodigy with a golden voice, but she's awkward to the point of near muteness.  Zoe is jealous of Cassie's talent, and Cassie wants to be "normal" like Zoe.  Zoe is mean, manipulative, and sometimes cruel.  Nevertheless, per their mother, she serves as Cassie's protector and tour guide in navigating an unkind and confusing world.

One night, Zoe strongarms Cassie into performing at a local battle of the bands.  A record label exec's nephew's in the audience, and before they know it, they're the Griffin Sisters, the hottest new band of the aughts.  At their epicenter is singer-songwriter Russell D'Angelo, the sensitive yet flawed young man who changes their lives.

Star-studded, heart-wrenching, and poignant, The Griffin Sisters' Greatest Hits is riveting.  Weiner alternates between Cassie's and Zoe's voices, going back and forth in time to tell a story of emotional depth and nostalgia.  Cassie and Zoe -- but especially Cassie -- are complexly drawn and speak to women of all ages.  

Because whether you're "just a pretty face," "different," or somewhere in between, the struggle to be heard is timeless.