THE SISTERS

Beginning right in the middle of the heaving, sweat-soaked fervor of a Y2K dance party, this explosive saga holds its firm grip for the next 20 hours. Narrator Aleksander Varadian keeps his foot on the gas for the length of this epic, shifting with apparent ease between Stockholm place names, Arabic slang, and French intimacies. As he weaves the decades together--unveiling the origin of a curse that's haunted the Tunisian Swedish Mikkola sisters throughout their lives--the mystery of Jonas, who adores them from afar, runs parallel. While an impressive polyglot, Varadian has a habit of verbal dallying that makes this hefty undertaking seem longer. However, every sentence is worth it. A masterclass in sibling dynamics and the indefinable bond of countrymen. K.L.L. © AudioFile 2025, Portland, Maine [Published: DECEMBER 2025]