Sisters in Arms

Michelle de la Fortuna's research brought her back to the lonely Massachusetts coast, and to the house of the reclusive Sisters of Providence. For more than sixty years the Sisters have stood watch here-first against the terrible pandemic that devastated their town, and then against a more insidious threat from the depths of the sea. Drawn into the mystery by the last remaining member of the Sisterhood, Michelle begins to unravel the connections between the legends, the Sisters, and her own family history.

"At its core, this is a story about family lore, ghosts and the old haunting absence caused by an untimely death. The narrative from there is adorned with a woman out to solve the mystery of her own ancestry, a town hollowed out by a pandemic in the early 1900s, and monsters from the sea. Ruppert manages to give readers a story that, while similar to all the trappings of Innsmouth, feels new and distinct. 'Sisters in Arms' is a reminder of how long death sits with the living, how the past always seems to catch up when we suspect it the least, and of how powerless we are against it." -S. L. Edwards, author of The Death of an Author