*Summary and Spoilers*
Main Characters:
William Waters- basketball player from a difficult home
Julia Padavano- Oldest Padavano sister, ambitious and organized planner
Sylvie Padavano- Second oldest Padavano sister, a romantic who loves to read
Cecelia Padavano- Emeline’s twin, free-spirited artist
Emeline Padavano- Cecelia’s twin, caretaker
Why you should read or listen:
This book is a modern day Little Women. It dives into the lives of all four sisters, as well as William. William and Julia are a main focus in the book, so they are my main focus in my summary. You'll have to read this book in order to explore Cecelia, Emeline, and Sylvie's lives.
But if you don't have time or need a refresher, continue reading!
Quick & Dirty Summary:
*Contains Spoilers*
William and Julia get married after college. Cecelia has a baby out of wedlock on the day that her father dies and it divides the family. William tries to commit suicide shortly after he and Julia have a daughter, Alice. Julia leaves William, while Sylvie cares for him. William and Sylvie fall in love and the family is divided again. They all reconnect years later, when Sylvie dies of cancer.
Complete Summary:
When William was born, his 3-year-old sister died. Due to this tragedy, his parents were closed off and uninterested in his life. William turned to basketball for companionship. After high school, he goes to college to play basketball and meets Julia. They become a couple and William meets her family. He meets Julia’s parents Rose and Charlie, her sister Sylvie, and the twins Cecelia and Emeline.
After a couple years of dating, William and Julia get engaged. Julia is upset because William’s parents don’t want to come to the wedding. During a basketball game, William shatters his kneecap and gets multiple surgeries. While in the hospital, he receives a check for $10,000 from his parents. He recognizes this as his parents’ way of saying goodbye and decides he won’t cash it.
In June, after they graduate, William and Julia get married. On the wedding day Cecelia, who is 17, admits to Sylvie that she is pregnant. When Rose finds out that Cecelia is pregnant, she kicks her out of the house. She moves in with the neighbor. Julia decides that she should also be pregnant and that her baby might allow her mother to accept Cecelia’s baby. Julia gets pregnant a couple months after Cecelia.
Cecelia gives birth to Izzy. All the sisters are overjoyed and excited. Rose does not visit her daughter or meet her granddaughter. Charlie shows up to the hospital to meet his granddaughter. He talks to Cecelia and holds the baby. After he leaves the hospital room, he has a heart attack and dies. This only fuels Rose’s anger towards Cecelia.
The Padavano girls must find a way to continue living without their father. Emeline moves in with Cecelia to help take care of Izzy. Sylvie feels like her mother no longer wants her there, so she moves to Julia and William’s house and sleeps on the couch. William takes time off from being a TA to be home with Julia after the death of her father, but Julia is not happy about this. Julia wants William to work, go to school, and write his book about basketball.
One day, Julia asks William if she can read his book. He agrees but she doesn’t know what to think of it. Julia asks Sylvie to read it since she is into literature. The book concerns Sylvie, not the chapters, but the footnotes. In the footnotes, William is questioning life and his place in it. One evening, after William’s courses, he sees Sylvie on a bench on campus. She tells him she is locked out of their house. They have a deep conversation, and both feel seen for the first time. Shortly after that, Sylvie moves out because she’s not sure what she feels for her brother-in-law.
Rose informs her daughters that she is selling the house and moving to Florida. They try to convince her to stay or at least stay until Julia’s baby is born, but Rose refuses. She sells the girls’ family home and moves. After Julia drives her mother to the airport, she goes into labor. Julia gives birth to Alice and William falls into depression. He stops showing up to work, but Julia thinks he is being distant and doesn’t like the baby.
One morning, Julia wakes up to a letter from William, explaining that he is leaving her, and the check for $10,000. Julia calls Sylvie who is immediately worried about William and calls his best friend. Sylvie and William’s old basketball team spend all day and night looking for him. Julia is offended that her sister isn’t worried about her. The police find William in Lake Michigan and he is taken to the hospital in an ambulance.
Sylvie goes to the hospital to visit William and make sure he’s alright. He will recover but is admitted to a mental health facility. Julia finds it difficult to believe William tried to kill himself. She is relieved when Sylvie informs her that William no longer wants to be married and gives up his rights to Alice.
Julia accepts a job as an old professor’s assistant in New York. She and Alice move to New York and leave the other sisters behind. Sylvie continues to visit William as he recovers, and they fall in love. Julia cuts off her sisters and niece when she finds out about Sylvie and William. She decides to stay in New York and works hard to earn a promotion. Sylvie and William get married.
When Alice is 5 years old, Julia tells Alice that her father, William, is dead. Julia believes that it’s easier than telling her about William and Sylvie. However, Alice develops a fear of cars and driving. As Alice grows, she becomes more interested in her father and aunts. She doesn’t want to upset her mom, so she waits until she’s in college before she really starts researching. Alice discovers that her Aunt Cecelia is a famous artist and starts collecting pictures of her artwork.
The ending
Sylvie and William have been together and married for many years when Sylvie finds out that she has terminal cancer. William calls Julia and tells her. Julia tells Alice the truth about William being alive and about her sisters. Julia researches her father with the help of some friends. Julia visits Sylvie and they reconnect but keep it a secret. Alice visits Chicago to meet her father on the day that Sylvie dies. The whole family, including Julia and Alice, come together to remember Sylvie. Alice learns a lot about her family from her cousin, Izzy. She meets her father and decides that she will stay in Chicago a while to find herself with the help of her new family.