Teaser Tuesday: Her Sister's Tattoo by Ellen Meeropol

Her Sister's Tattoo, Ellen Meeropol's new novel, launches today from Red Hen Press! Here's a teaser:

Waiting for Jake or Esther to answer their doorbell the next afternoon, Allen admitted to himself that he probably shouldn’t have come. He could have telephoned with the news, or even asked Rosa’s lawyer to tell them.

There's no big bash for publication day when everyone is inside and socially distancing. But that means there are online events we can all watch on Ellen's author webpage, where you can also order the book in paperback or ebook.

PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION

In August 1968, Rosa and Esther Cohen march through downtown Detroit protesting the war in Vietnam. The march is peaceful, but when a bloodied teenager describes a battle with mounted police a few blocks away, the sisters hurry to offer assistance. Trying to stop the violence, they instead intensify it. An officer is seriously injured. Rosa and Esther are arrested and charged with conspiracy and attempted murder.

For Rosa, their arrest offers an opportunity to make a political statement, another way to protest an unacceptable war. Esther wants to avoid prison and stay home with her infant daughter, Molly; the only way to do that is to accept a plea bargain and testify against Rosa at trial. The consequences of these actions lead one sister underground and to prison, the other to leave town to bury her past in a new life. Molly grows up unaware of her family history until she meets Rosa's daughter, her cousin Emma, at summer camp.

Told from multiple points of view and through the sisters' never-mailed letters, and bracketed by the Vietnam and Iraq wars, HER SISTER'S TATTOO explores the thorny intersection of sibling loyalty and clashing political decisions.

Read my earlier interview with Ellen Meeropol here, about her novel Kinship of Clover.

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by The Purple Booker. Participants share a two-sentence teaser from the book they are reading or featuring. Please remember to include the name of the book and the author. You can share your teaser in a comment below, or with a comment or link at the Teaser Tuesday site, where you can find the official rules for this weekly event.