The Gifted Gabaldon Sisters

Lorraine Lopez
Grand Central Publishing (2008)
ISBN 0446699217
Reviewed by April Sullivan for Reader Views (10/08)

 

The Gabaldon sisters have a lot to live up to, even from birth. Each is lovingly named after one of their mother’s favorite movie stars; Bette Davis Gabaldon, Loretta Young Gabaldon, Rita Hayworth Gabaldon, Sophia Loren Gabaldon, and don’t forget their brother Cary Grant Gabaldon.  These names are a mouthful, and this gang is a handful for their father after their mother dies when the kids are all young. This book tells the story of these four sisters as they grow up trying hard to keep the memory of their mother alive.

A major influence in the lives of these girls is the elderly housekeeper Fermina, who lives with them. Fermina has promised a gift to each girl to be revealed upon her death. When she dies, the girls receive nothing tangible and decide that the gifts must be more magical in nature. Using their imaginations and personality traits they bestow gifts upon themselves and each other that become more potent than intended. Their gifts become something to be lived up to as well as a burden. It skews the way they see themselves and each other.

Lorraine Lopez has written a delightful book. She lays it out in an easy, appealing manner that follows the life of the girls from adolescence to adulthood. Lopez really gets the language and sarcastic wit of these girls as they grow up in a Los Angeles Mexican American family. Each chapter’s title includes the sister and the year that it is about. The year’s are chronological, but jump up two to three years at a time, yet I never felt like I was missing out on a single year of the girls’ lives. Interspersed among these chapters are WPA reports of stories told by Fermina to a reporter about her life. As the book progresses, so does the mysterious link between Fermina and the Gabaldon family, revealing her true gift.

“The Gifted Gabaldon Sisters” is a well-written novel that blends the magic of Native American folklore with the realities of life for four Mexican American girls growing up in the late sixties through early eighties. Lorraine Lopez is right up there with the likes of authors such as Julia Alvarez. A new favorite author has been found.

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