As I wrote this book, the citizens of Hanley came to life and common themes emerged. Love, loss, and redemption touch nearly every character, in ways very different one from another. I tried to understand what was true for each of them, and portray them fully. 
 
My aha moment came in recognizing that Lunch Ladies had become a story about ordinary women, doing what ordinary women do: living extraordinary lives.
 
In each newsletter, I’ll tug on a common thread or two, to take a look at what’s woven into the book and its characters. For this month? Sisters

Sisters
True, it doesn’t work in every family. But in many, relationships among sisters are as splendid and strong as the oak trees of Minnesota. Their roots, deep. Their trunks, steadfast. In Lunch Ladies, we come to know sisters whose lives overlap like the leaves on those trees, as they turn toward the sun: Hy, Lo, and Glad – inseparable since 1918. Pearl and Ruby – together forever.

 
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On July 4, 1976, 225 sailing vessels from all over the world, including all but four of the remaining twenty “tall ships” paraded up the Hudson River in New York.
 
As the sailing ships moved up the Hudson, the warships lining the route boomed out a 21-gun salute and President Ford reviewed the parade from the deck of the aircraft carrier Forrestal. (Newsweek Magazine, July 4, 1976)

Illustrations: Zoe Mitchell
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