The Cherry Robbers

In 2017, Sylvia Wren is one of the United States’ premier artists but lives as a recluse in New Mexico. Then she’s contacted by a persistent reporter, which is a problem since Wren is living under an assumed identity in an attempt to escape her past as Iris Chapel. In 1950, the six Chapel sisters were living affluent lives as heiresses, but their father was distant and their mother was haunted by ghosts—some her own, some being victims of the family’s firearm business. Each of the Chapel girls longed to escape their home life, and the first two made it out by marrying before promptly dying. Iris escaped too, but how long can she avoid the family curse? Part gothic ghost story and part coming-of-age tale, Walker’s epic novel has a modern feminist spin. The narration by January LaVoy provides a wistful look at the sepia-toned time of Iris’s life, while also hinting at the more sinister aspects of being a Chapel sister.