Prophecy Of The Sisters

Michelle Zink’s young adult fantasy novel Prophecy of the Sisters (2009) is the first book in a trilogy with sequels published in 2010 and 2011. Two novellas of filler stories in the same universe were published in 2012.

The story takes place in the United States around the turn of the century. It concerns a pair of twin sisters, Lia and Alice. The twins’ mother died years ago, and their father has just passed away as the book opens. Lia, Alice, and their younger brother, Henry, are sent to live with their Aunt Virginia. The girls have always had very different personalities: Lia is polite and gentle, while Alice is stern and a bit of a troublemaker.

After the girls’ father dies, a strange black mark appears on each of their wrists. These marks indicate their place in a mysterious prophecy. When Lia returns to school, she reconnects with her old friend, James, a bright and scholarly young man. One day, while browsing the books in Lia’s family library, they come across a strange book with only one page in it. James translates the page, which describes the prophecy as it affects Lia and Alice.



The twins are part of an age-old struggle between good and evil with the power to either release the demon Samael into the world or keep him contained. Every generation, a set of twins is born, one of whom serves as the Gate and the other as the Guardian. The two come into conflict as the Gate struggles to find the keys that will allow Samael into the world while the Guardian searches for the keys that will keep him out.

At first, Lia is suspicious of her place in the prophecy, until Alice begins to act strangely. She leaves school to visit a sinister fortune-teller and soon after, her habitual naughty behavior escalates, becoming more malicious and cruel.

Lia also notices changes in herself. At night, she astrally projects in her dreams. Assisted by Sonia Sorrensen, the local psychic and spiritualist, Lia begins to control her ability to project and uses it to gain a better understanding of her situation. She joins forces with Sonia and Luisa, a friend of hers from school, and begins to look for the keys to keep the Gate closed.



However, she quickly learns that there is more to the mystery than she first thought. Aunt Virginia tells Lia that her father was also aware of the prophecy and discovered that there is more than one Gate and one Guardian on earth at any given time. Luisa and Sonia both have the same mark mentioned in the prophecy, and Lia’s father brought both girls from abroad so he could keep an eye on them.

Virginia also reveals that she is a former Guardian, though she admits she doesn’t know the current location of the keys. Finally, she admits that she thinks Lia has the order of the prophecy wrong and it is, in fact, Alice who is the Guardian, though she admits she does not think Alice is up to the task.

Though Lia does not at first believe that she has the potential to be the Gate, she is soon forced to admit that it might be true. Soon after that, Alice reveals to Lia that she has been manipulated by Samael to renounce her role as Guardian. A letter from her mother reveals to Lia that she took steps to protect her from her role as Gate when she was a child. As a result, the two girls have switched roles and intentions from what was originally indicated by the Prophecy.



Lia realizes that her magical powers have grown exponentially since the events of the prophecy have begun to be set in motion. Due to the turmoil in her life, she begins to allow the Gate to open and Samael to enter the world. Lia uses her astral projection abilities to confront the demon to see if she can close the Gate herself. She learns the location of the keys, but when she goes to retrieve them she finds that Alice has beaten her to them.

The sisters confront each other. Their younger brother, Henry, tries to intervene but he is knocked into the river. Lia dives in after him and is rescued from drowning by Alice. Henry dies, but not before revealing to Lia where the keys are hidden. As the book ends, Lia prepares to set out to find them so that she can seal the Gate for good. Her relationship with Alice is still strained, but cordial.

Lia sets out with Sonia and Luisa to find the keys. The first book in the series finishes here but is completed in the sequels.