We Became Like a Hand: A Story of Five Sisters

We Became Like a Hand: A Story of Five Sisters by Ortlip, Carol A.. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9780345443427.

Five sisters play on the cliffs of the Palisades in 1960s Fort Lee, New Jersey. Before them, the glimmering expanse of mythic Manhattan. Behind them, their enchanted world of wind and flower gardens, their home. In this lyrical and moving memoir, eldest sister Carol Ortlip invites us into the realm of their powerful sisterly bond. As children, each sister seemed essentially placed, becoming the one the rest had been waiting for: Carol (translator and guide), Kate (nurturer and second in command), Sharon (prophet and poet), Danielle (compassionate mediator), and Michele (youngest and the family conscience). Their love for one another permeated their childhood games and sustained them during their mother’s depression and eventual departure, their attempts to fill the hole she left behind, the normal challenges of growing up, and the profound tragedies that threatened to break even the strongest heart.