The Griffin Sisters’ Greatest Hits

The irresistible latest from Weiner (The Getaway) chronicles a pop group’s brief career and their impact on a new generation. It’s the early aughts, and Zoe, conventionally pretty at 20, longs for fame but lacks the talent for singing and songwriting of her younger sister, Cassie. They form a group called the Griffin Sisters with songwriter Russell D’Angelo, with whom awkward Cassie shares a spark, until Zoe manipulates him into marrying her out of envy. The short-lived band breaks up when Russell dies in an accident, after which Cassie flees to remote Alaska and Zoe fails at a solo career before becoming a mom in suburban New Jersey. The Griffin Sisters’ music remains influential 20 years later, however, and gains new fans when one of their songs is used in a TV show. Now, Zoe’s 18-year-old daughter, Cherry, enters a TV singing competition, in defiance of her mother’s wishes, and tracks down Cassie for help. Weiner connects the parallel plot threads as Cherry finds out what happened the night Russell died. Though the story ends on a saccharine high note, the author breathes new life into the love triangle trope and offers a nuanced view of sisterhood’s complexities. Weiner’s fans will be delighted. Agent: Celeste Fine, Park & Fine Literary. (Apr.)