Accidental Sisters

"We know that our humanity is tied to one another, and that we need policies that extend humanity and compassion to immigrants and newly arrived refugees. . . This book is a starting place for that understanding."—US Representative Ilhan Omar, from the foreword

"Kimberly Meyer has written a beautiful book about refugees and resettlement, offering truth and empathy in place of propaganda as she tells the story of the mass migrations that will soon affect us all."—Mimi Swartz, Executive Editor, Texas Monthly

"In Accidental Sisters, award-winning writer Kimberly Meyer traces the journeys of six refugee women—all single mothers—who support one another as they make their way from their home countries and navigate resettlement in Houston. Meyer's novelistic sensibilities and exquisite eye for detail enable readers to bear witness to her subjects' experiences of love, loss, betrayal, and longing for home. Accidental Sisters is at once a riveting tribute to the power of sisterhood and an indictment of the many ways our nation's refugee resettlement process falls far short of its promise. This searing exploration of the human side of the refugee experience will reverberate in readers' minds for years to come."—Jessica Wilbanks, author of When I Spoke in Tongues

"Accidental Sisters is a deeply compassionate, life-affirming gem. Meyer's empathy shines through in the stories of these six women and the uncertain ground on which they find themselves once they flee the radiating aftershocks of war and reach American soil. Together these women define America's easily forgotten immigrant heritage, revealing a second front line far from any conventional battlefield: that of resettlement."—Kenneth R. Rosen, recipient of the Bayeux Calvados-Normandy Award for War Correspondents

"I opened Accidental Sisters with a vague idea that refugee women lived difficult lives in the United States. I had no clue. By blending beautiful storytelling with a deconstruction of flawed policies, Meyer shows us the depths of real people's struggles and how the remedy for injustice starts with acknowledgment and compassion."—Ricardo Nuila, author of The People's Hospital: Hope and Peril in American Medicine