On the Rooftop

A stunning novel about a mother whose dream of musical stardom for her three daughters collides with the daughters’ ambitions for their own lives–set against the backdrop of gentrifying 1950s San Francisco At home they are just sisters,but on stagethey are The Salvations. RuthEstherand Chloe have been singing and dancing in harmony since they could speak. Thanks to the rigorous direction of their motherVivianthey’ve become a bona fide girl group whose shows are the talk of the Jazz-era Fillmore. Now Vivian has scored a once-in-a-lifetime offer from a talent managerwho promises to catapult The Salvations into the national spotlight. Vivian knows this is the big break she’s been praying for. But sometime between the hours of rehearsal on their rooftop and the weekly gigs at the Champagne Supper Clubthe girls have become womenwomen with dreams that their mother cannot imagine. The neighborhood is changingtoo: all around the Fillmorewhite men in suits are approaching Black property owners with offers. One sister finds herself called to fight backone falls into the comfort of an old relationshipanother yearns to make her own voice heard. And Vivianwho has always maintained controlwill have to confront the parts of her life that threaten to splinter: the communityThe Salvationsand even her family. Warmgrippingand wisewith echoes of Fiddler on the RoofMargaret Wilkerson Sexton’s latest novel is a moving family portrait from \