The Sisters We Were

DEBUT Long-held childhood secrets send one sister into a life of angry denial and the other sister finding her salvation in food. Twenty-nine-year-old Pearl Crenshaw is told by a bariatric surgeon that she may not live to see her 40th birthday if she does not take drastic measures to reduce her weight. At 531 pounds, everything from moving to sleeping has become a struggle for her. Willing to endure the quick temper and sharp criticisms from her estranged older sister Ruby, Pearl turns to her only family member who’s available for help. With the impending surgery and recovery, the two sisters are given a chance to reconnect and salvage their once close relationship. Life After Fat Pants podcaster Baldwin based her fiction debut on her relationship with her younger sister. The story is slightly off-balance with the protagonist Pearl much more developed than Ruby and the other supporting characters.