Inevitable and Only

What if you suddenly found out you had a sister . . . and she took over your life?

Cadie is close to her father. They are so much alike—same temperament, sense of humor, and love for the theater—and Dad always knows how to comfort her . . . until the day he announces that he has another daughter.

Suddenly, Cadie has a sister, Elizabeth—a sister who is six months older than her, a sister who is about to move in with them, a sister whose very existence means that Cadie’s beloved father cheated on her mother when they were already married. What other secrets might he have? Can she still trust him? Does Cadie really know her father at all?

And when Elizabeth arrives, Cadie’s worst fears come true. Elizabeth looks just like Dad; not only that, she seems all too perfect. Until she begins stealing Cadie’s place in the family and even Cadie’s one true love . . . But Elizabeth has secrets of her own.

This deeply emotional coming-of-age story explores the choices you make when your family—and your life—changes overnight. Are these choices the inevitable and only ones? And will they ultimately bring your family back together or push you further apart?

Lisa Rosinsky, a senior editor at Barefoot Books, is the 2016–2017 Associates of the Boston Public Library Writer-in-Residence. Her stories have been published in Cricket and Highlights®, and her poetry appears or is forthcoming in Salamander, Prairie Schooner, The Baltimore Review, Measure, 32 Poems, Hunger Mountain, Iron Horse Literary Review, and other journals. She has twice been named a finalist for the Morton Marr Poetry Prize. Inevitable and Only is her first novel. She lives in Boston, Massachusetts. lisarosinskywrites.com.