4 out of 4 stars
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The Reel Sisters by Michelle Cummings is a funny, heartwarming, and sometimes tragic story about five women who are bonded together by their shared passion for fly fishing. The author chooses a first person style narrative to let each woman tell her part of the story in her own voice, alternating characters chapter by chapter. Each woman is introduced in an initial chapter in which she provides some of her back ground and describes how her life became intertwined with the others.
Sophie is a woman from a farm in Kansas, who visited Colorado to try fly fishing after watching A River Runs Through It over 20 years earlier. Her initial fly fishing experiences captivated her and she moved to Colorado to make it her home. She also met Rose.
Sophie met Veronica when they sat together on an airplane. Sophie’s enthusiasm for fly fishing quickly piqued Veronica’s interest and a few weeks later, Veronica met Sophie with Rose and was immediately hooked on both fly fishing and the new friendships.
Amanda’s introduction to the small group happened when she visited Sophie’s business and made her acquaintance. As both a 5th grade teacher and a “single” mother of two toddlers while her husband was deployed with the military, Amanda loved both the solitude and adult companionship the group offered.
Rose is the eldest of the women—a veteran fly fisherwoman who owns a cabin on the Arkansas River in the mountains near Salida, Colorado. She assumes the roles of teacher, mentor, sage, storyteller, and mother/grandmother.
Melody meets the ladies a bit later in the story. She is rescued by the group after her misfortune of falling into the river just upstream of where the group gathered to fish.
There are a myriad of life lessons analogous with learning the art of fly fishing—lessons about patience, environmental awareness, commitment, planning, etc. There are also plenty of analogies between a flowing river and people—especially how both are always changing, yet remain the same. The book’s author explores some of these analogies via the characters of her book. She does a great job of slipping them in through conversations with Rose, as her character often gives fly fishing instructions imparted with a subtle, underlying meaning. The author also lets each character reflect upon how fly fishing gave her insight into her personal and/or professional life. The characters are realistic, experiencing loneliness, pain, tragedy, and sorrow in addition to sharing happy interactions.
A quote from Henry David Thoreau prefaces the book: “Many people fish all of their lives not knowing it’s not the fish they are after...” This quote expresses the essence of the novel. Fly fishing not only ties this group together, but also becomes the catalyst for life-alternating changes for each woman. The disparities in age, back grounds, and personalities are easily overcome by a common passion.
Yet, even though fly fishing is an essential element in the novel, the friendship and support that evolve through the formation of the sisterhood are equally important. Fly fishing is not really a group hobby and though it is the activity that brings the ladies together, it is not what truly binds them together.
I really like the way the author chose to write this novel using the first person voice of each character. It allows a deeper character development and lets each express her own unique, personal insight. The first few introductory chapters were a bit awkward for me to follow initially, as I had a little trouble trying to incorporate each character’s story into the combined plot. But, I feel this type of introduction actually enhanced the overall story, rather than distracted from it.
My rating is a 4 out of 4 stars. The book is exceptionally well edited. I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in fly fishing, but most particularly to women of any age.
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The Reel Sisters
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