When We Were Sisters
{{Short description|2022 novel by Fatimah Asghar}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
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| author = Fatimah Asghar
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| country = United States
| language = English
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| publisher = One World
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When We Were Sisters is a 2022 novel by American writer Fatimah Asghar. The novel follows the lives of three orphaned sisters sent to live with their uncle after their father's death.
Writing and publication
Asghar wrote the novel during a "period of extreme rejection".{{cite news |last1=Bansinath |first1=Bindu |title=Fatimah Asghar Redefines the Orphan Narrative |url=https://www.thecut.com/2022/10/fatimah-asghar-when-we-were-sisters-book-interview.html |access-date=20 April 2023 |work=The Cut |date=18 October 2022 |language=en-us}} Before the novel, Asghar had not written fiction, and described writing the book as "one of the hardest artistic endeavors I've ever done". Krista Franklin encouraged Asghar to "write the book however it was coming" as she worked.{{cite news |last1=Sabir |first1=Sultan |title=The PEN Ten: An Interview with Fatimah Asghar |url=https://pen.org/the-pen-ten-an-interview-with-fatimah-asghar/ |access-date=22 April 2023 |work=PEN America |date=13 October 2022}}
Asghar was inspired by the novel We the Animals.{{cite news |last1=Flattery |first1=Nicole |title=Which Is More Terrifying: Nature or Other People? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/10/books/review/small-game-blair-braverman-when-we-were-sisters-fatimah-asghar-the-mountain-in-the-sea-ray-nayler.html |access-date=22 April 2023 |work=The New York Times |date=10 November 2022}}
Reception and accolades
=Critical reception=
According to the literary review aggregator Book Marks, the novel received mostly "Rave" and "Positive" reviews.{{cite web |title=When We Were Sisters |url=https://bookmarks.reviews/reviews/when-we-were-sisters/ |website=Book Marks |publisher=Literary Hub |access-date=20 April 2023}}
In a positive review published by Chicago Review of Books, Mary Retta praised Asghar's writing as "lyric, gentle, and fierce".{{cite news |last1=Retta |first1=Mary |title=Sisterhood Beyond Womanhood in "When We Were Sisters" |url=https://chireviewofbooks.com/2022/10/24/when-we-were-sisters/ |access-date=21 April 2023 |work=Chicago Review of Books |date=24 October 2022}} Retta compared the book's content to Asghar's web series Brown Girls, writing that like it, "the novel is committed to an honest portrayal of the lives of queer women of color". Writing for Booklist, Allison Cho also praised Asghar's prose, saying that the novel contains "that same lyricism from her poetry collection".{{cite news |last1=Cho |first1=Allison |title=When We Were Sisters, by Fatimah Asghar. |url=https://www.booklistonline.com/When-We-Were-Sisters-/pid=9762119 |access-date=21 April 2023 |work=Booklist}} In a review for the New York Times, Nicole Flattery praised Asghar's writing as "distinctive", but wrote that it "serves to mask commonplace observations" and was occasionally unclear.
=Accolades=
Asghar was nominated for the 2023 Young Lions Fiction Award for the novel, which was ultimately won by Zain Khalid's Brother Alive.{{cite news |last1=Manley |first1=Janet |title=Here are the finalists for the 2023 Young Lions Fiction Award. |url=https://lithub.com/here-are-the-finalists-for-the-2023-young-lions-fiction-award/ |access-date=20 April 2023 |work=Literary Hub |date=19 April 2023}} The book won the inaugural Carol Shields Prize for Fiction in 2023.{{Cite web|title=Winner of the 2023 Carol Shields Prize for Fiction|url=https://carolshieldsprizeforfiction.com/2023-winner|website=carolshieldsprizeforfiction.com|language=en}}