Sisterland by Curtis Sittenfeld

A new Sittenfeld novel is always a treat, and Sisterland is a beautifully absorbing read. It's one of those books that you can't wait to get back to when you have to put it down, and then feel bereft when it's finished. In fact, I haven't yet been able to get on with the next book in my tbr pile, it's too soon.

Kate wants a quiet, normal life. She's a stay at home mum to Owen and Rosie, is happily married to Jeremy, and spends her days on playdates with friend and neighbour, Hank, and his daughter. Hank is married to Courtney, a professor of geophysics, who works with Jeremy. The two couples socialise together, pop in and out of each others houses, and have a good relationship. When Vi, Kate's identical twin sister, appears on TV predicting a catastrophic earthquake, it's Courtney who appears opposite her, ridiculing her claim and offering a coolly scientific point of view. Fissures appear in all of their lives.

Where Kate is anxious, controlling and rigid, Vi is expansive, spontaneous and impulsive. Sittenfeld manages to make the reader empathise with both of them. Vi looks like she's having more fun maybe, but I identified with the mummy angsting of Kate. Both twins have always had "senses" although having been ostracised in high school because if her ability to tell the future, Kate has long since attempted to ignore any feelings she has. She's furious with Vi for the publicity which surrounds her announcement, and fears that she will be identified as Vi's twin, and therefore be seen as creepy and different, once again. Loathe as she is to play any part in the prediction a date suddenly fixes itself in her mind, and she feels she has to tell Vi.

Sittenfeld is a classy writer and a great observer of people. The psychic parts are underplayed and seem nothing much more than the general feelings we all get from time to time - this is no schlocky paranormal story. Instead, we are treated to many telling details and conversations.

"Are you embarrassed to be married to me?" I'd thought I was making a joke, but aloud it didn't sound like one.

Sittenfeld expertly sweeps us back and forth in time, creating entire lives. We learn about the twin's parents, their depressed mother and apparently somewhat clueless dad, we learn about school, first boyfriends, friendships, jobs, partners. It's the same skillful layering that was employed so well in American Wife. And all the while tension builds as we approach the dreaded date of the predicted earthquake. It's another pageturner, and Sittenfeld has proven once again that she's one of the very best storytellers around.

American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld

This is a big slab of a novel, 550 plus words, large pages, divided into 4 sections. I enjoyed Sittenfeld's debut novel Prep very much but was disappointed by The Man of My Dreams, so I wasn't sure how I'd get on with this. Apart from tsking about having to carry such a hefty novel in my bag, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The American Wife refers to Alice, who by marrying Charlie Blackwell ends up being America's First Lady. The book is based on the real life Laura Bush. True facts about Laura Bush's life (such as a fatal car accident she was involved in) are taken and fictionalised. I am impressed that despite us knowing how it's going to end there is still enough moderate cliff hanging to keep us reading on.

I thought Sittenfeld was immensely skilled at bringing to life teen anxieties and school concerns in Prep, and here again she paints a rounded portrait of young Alice. It is the earlier parts of Alice's life which I enjoyed the most, the fact that she winds up marrying the president was almost incidental.

As the First Lady Alice rates far higher in the popularity stakes than her husband does. She is also perceived to have great influence on him, and a variety of people wish her to use that power. Sittenfeld ponders what it would be like for the President's wife to not share his values, and this, along with Alice's guilt about the car crash, seems to be the central theme.

It's not a particularly challenging or flashy novel, rather it is something to relax into and enjoy. There were times when, with my writers hat on, I thought, but surely this is telling and not showing, but it didn't seem to matter a jot. I guess it's just another of those "rules" I'll never quite get.

I'll be rating it 4 out of 5 on my Good Reads page.

Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld.

I loved this book, absolutely adored it. It was insightful and fun and embarrassing and wonderfully observational. It is about an American "Prep"; a boarding school for rich people that Lee, the main character, wins a scholarship to. So some of the things described are alien, but the teenage stuff is excruciatingly spot on and universal.

Truth and recognition in any book, film, music or comedy is what makes me fall in love with it. I suppose the things that I feel as truth are personal to me, and so when I hear them articulated by somebody else I feel a little less alone in the world. This paragraph just thrilled me;

"...I looked at the floor around my chair to make sure I hadn't dropped anything. I was terrified of unwittingly leaving behind a scrap of paper on which were written all my private desires and humiliations. the fact that no such scrap of paper existed...never decreased my fear."

Perfect!

I devoured this book. It's wonderful when you read something that captures your imagination so much that you are constantly waiting for the next opportunity to read. I will definitely buy her next novel, and feel sad that this one is finished.

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