Iris & Lily: An Epic Adventure in Book One

Amazon Customer: I’m a very avid reader of many different genres of books. I had seen Iris and Lily advertised on face book as “the best book you will ever read.” I thought “ok, I’ll have to read it.” I looked for it in the bookstore, no luck. Then I tried Chapters.ca, still no luck. Over the course of the past year, I looked for it in three different countries as I was travelling, still with no luck. I think the fact that I couldn’t find it made me more determined to read it. Finally I went to Amazon.ca where I not only found it, but I learned that it was a series of three books so I ordered all three books.

Book One had a slow start and it took me awhile to get into the rhythm of the book. I think this may have been caused by all the “hype” in finding the book.

Book Two I enjoyed much more. It moved along and covered many different topics and went in a few surprising directions.

Book Three...I wasn’t looking forward to the end of the series because I was enjoying the characters and the story. I found when it came to the end, it just ended. It was a let down for me after the different story lines to have it end the way it did.

Did I enjoy the...

Canada on Aug 01, 2018

Kathy: It took me until somewhere near Chapter 18 to 'get into' the story. The writers go on endlessly with non-essential descriptions. I eventually realized that I could skip over all the rambling and not miss out on anything in the actual story line. The beginning was PAINFULLY SLOW, the middle was good, the ending was disappointing. These girls had very sad lives. Yes they made some really bad choices, but not surprising since, they didn't have a lot of tools or guidance in their early lives to draw from.

Canada on Mar 22, 2018

Roz Cooper: Read this book after seeing a recommendation on Facebook as one of the best stories ever. Wouldn't go so far as to say that but I certainty enjoyed it. Slow Burner but it was as the sisters lives unravelled you couldn't help but pick a side. Will miss Iris, Lily and the rest of the Capostilos.

United Kingdom on Sep 17, 2017

Mary K. Jung: Iris & Lily – The complete Series
By Angela Scipioni & Julie Scipioni

A story set right in our own community of Gates Chili.

The story begins in the girls childhood and follows them through childhood and into the life as adults.

Although close, the two sisters drift apart as they reach the early adulthood days. Life isn’t easy for Lily as she finds herself in an abusive marriage. Iris, on the other hand, seems to “have it all” with a husband who adores her and is able to give her all of the finer things.

Eventually, the girls are brought back together when their Auntie Rosa is dying and each learns that the other’s life has not been everything they thought it was.

A very believable story, for the most part, one that could be loosely based on facts in just about anyone’s life with the trials and tribulations that each of us goes through as we lead or lives.

Even with the combination of the 3 books in this series, I didn’t find the story too long and it pretty much held my interest throughout.

Mary K

United States on Jun 25, 2016

MRS TA YELLAND: I love this book, I come from a small family in comparison with just one sister and one brother, but so much of Iris and Lily's tale resonated with me. I recognized the backdrop and the feelings of each girl, especially Lily. It amazes me that two girls can grow up in a family and recall events so differently and feel sure the other is having a much better life. I also recognize the fact that once we get older we see the past more clearly, or at least from a wiser perspective. Thank you for a really good read, I loved it.

United Kingdom on Apr 08, 2016

Mary M. Schmidt: This story in 3 volumes is quite long and might not suffer from being cut down. Volume 1 was a bit of a slog to get through, the memories of a childhood in a family that took Humanae Vitae far too literally. The sad result: 12 kids. There was not nearly enough attention. or money, or love to go around. Although the father is described as an ill-tempered tyrant, he does not come across as so bad. The mother is so overworked it's as if she does not exist at all. A lot of physical and sexual abuse is going on right under her nose and she just can't deal with it, so does not. Later, when she becomes involved in first-wave feminism, the result is a bitter and angry divorce. One wonders show these two could ever have loved each other at all. Beyond childhood, in the subsequent volumes, the plotting gets much better as you see Iris and Lily both making terrible choices and getting stuck with the consequences. Iris marries a good reliable man, a doctor, who is about as exciting as white bread. She cannot stay faithful to him. Lily marries a man with red flags all over him: he's already addicted to gambling, deeply in debt, surrounded by creepy people, controlling and abusive. Both sisters...

United States on Feb 05, 2016

anim: To say that I read Iris & Lily wouldn't quite make it justice - because I devoured it, literally reaching for it the moment I woke up, putting it down to got to sleep. I did try to slow down, but as I reached the very last pages in a couple of days I couldn't help but wish the book would never end. I loved being in Iris and Lily's world!
I found the book beautifully written, thrilling, moving, endearing, and, most of all, inspiring.
What a wonderful find, and what a joy it is to recommend it to every woman I know.
Case in point, I was reading the book during a family vacation. As it happened, I was so enthusiastic about Iris & Lily that my mother-in-law, a proud technophobe and unadventurous reader, eventually succumbed to curiosity and asked me to show her what the fuss was about.
She, who had sworn to never go near a Kindle. She, who refused to put it down until she finished the book.
And if uniting a daughter and mother-in-law in a conversation that lasted days and covered every single topic touched by the novel (family, love, dreams, abuse, resilience, rebirth...) is not a literary miracle, then I don't know what is.
Read it!!

United Kingdom on Jan 14, 2015

R. Phillips: This book is beyond excellent. The story, the writing, the symbolism, the detail, the characters, the time period are all the ingredients for the classic novel we long for that we can relate to. This book has it all and more! A book you don't want to ever end. It will delight you, it will sadden you, it will make you say out loud "yes, that's just how I felt! It will take you back to the 60's and 70's if you were growing up then or if you were a parent at that time. It spans each generation. Three generations of my family are reading this book and none of us could put it down. My mother who is still an avid reader at 91 said it is the best book she has ever read. I agree and so do my sisters. It is the best book you will ever read.

The story begins with two young sisters and their close relationship from a family of 14. Their struggles growing up together in a big family with little money. It spans all their growing up years to adulthood and their relationships with each. It is a story of struggle, hardship, triumph and coming to know themselves. So many times, I could identify with their feelings. It's one thing to be able to write from the heart, but the authors were able...

United States on Jul 05, 2014

Wendy Haylett: Raw, real, and slightly unnerving. This is a book about the stories we tell ourselves, shadowed by the questions: Did my life really happen how I remember it? Are the stories I tell myself about my past based on reality, or are they contaminated by a narrator who remains true to immature and jaded perceptions and judgments formed without objectivity?

Reading this novel is like falling down the rabbit hole of Iris’ and Lily’s mind, where nothing may be exactly as it seems. Through an ongoing email exchange that is insightful, but also unsettlingly honest, sisters Iris and Lily retell their past from the perspective of now. As readers, we experience their past from the perspectives of Iris’ and Lily’s “old stories” narrator—experiencing how they see themselves, each other, and the world. Yet we’re never sure which narrator is closer to the truth, to reality, if there is such a thing.

We all tell ourselves stories about the past. Sometimes we are aware we are doing it, but sometimes we are blind to it—and sometimes we willingly jump into the old stories, even though we know they are no longer useful. Being offered the privilege to experience the old...

United States on Jun 10, 2014