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    Sisterland: A Novel
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    Sisterland: A Novel
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    Sisterland: A Novel
    Audiobook14 hours

    Sisterland: A Novel

    Written by Curtis Sittenfeld

    Narrated by Rebecca Lowman

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

    NAMED ONE OF THE BEST NOVELS OF THE YEAR BY
    Slate • Daily Candy • St. Louis Post-Dispatch • The Guardian (U.K.)

    Curtis Sittenfeld, author of American Wife and Prep, returns with a mesmerizing novel of family and identity, loyalty and deception, and the delicate line between truth and belief.

    From an early age, Kate and her identical twin sister, Violet, knew that they were unlike everyone else. Kate and Vi were born with peculiar "senses"—innate psychic abilities concerning future events and other people's secrets. Though Vi embraced her visions, Kate did her best to hide them.

    Now, years later, their different paths have led them both back to their hometown of St. Louis. Vi has pursued an eccentric career as a psychic medium, while Kate, a devoted wife and mother, has settled down in the suburbs to raise her two young children. But when a minor earthquake hits in the middle of the night, the normal life Kate has always wished for begins to shift. After Vi goes on television to share a premonition that another, more devastating earthquake will soon hit the St. Louis area, Kate is mortified. Equally troubling, however, is her fear that Vi may be right. As the date of the predicted earthquake quickly approaches, Kate is forced to reconcile her fraught relationship with her sister and to face truths about herself she's long tried to deny.

    Funny, haunting, and thought-provoking, Sisterland is a beautifully written novel of the obligation we have toward others, and the responsibility we take for ourselves. With her deep empathy, keen wisdom, and unerring talent for finding the extraordinary moments in our everyday lives, Curtis Sittenfeld is one of the most exceptional voices in literary fiction today.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateJun 25, 2013
    ISBN9780307736611
    Unavailable
    Sisterland: A Novel
    Author

    Curtis Sittenfeld

    Curtis Sittenfeld is the bestselling author of the novels Prep, The Man of My Dreams, American Wife, and Sisterland, which have been translated into twenty-five languages. Her nonfiction has been published widely, including in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Time, Vanity Fair, and Glamour and broadcast on public radio’s This American Life. A native of Cincinnati, she currently lives with her family in St. Louis.

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    Reviews for Sisterland

    3.5/5

    429 ratings49 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Light and fun.
    • 3/5
      Sisterland by Curtis Sittenfeld is a book about identical twins, Kate and Vi, who share a special sense. . . somewhat of a psychic power. Although Kate does her best to hide it, to fit in, to be “normal,” Vi isn’t ashamed of her ability, which causes tension between the sisters.When Vi receives a premonition that indicates danger, their lives and families are disrupted.Throughout the book, even though Kate and Vi argue, they are there for each other as sisters. And that’s something I can relate to. Although my sister and I are 4 and a half years apart, we weren’t close until I left for college, and (dare I say it??) she totally missed me. Now we’re really close, and I consider my sister to be a best friend.For the full review, visit Love at First Book
    • 4/5
      Great beach read for those who like Kristin Hannah. I don't always enjoy adult books but this one kept me interested all the way through. Very clever insight into twins who, although identical, are so very different...one embracing her psychic ability and the other denying it.
      I really enjoyed this and would recommend it!
    • 3/5
      If you’ve been in a bookstore in the last few months, you’ve probably seen this book. Or maybe I’m the only one who kept noticing it. The cover shows two white girls, probably ten years old, with their heads together, half of each face outside of the frame. It was part of a ‘buy two, get one free’ sale at Powell’s (the same one that resulted in me reading The Martian, so I’m forever thankful for it), and the back looked like it might be good. And it was, mostly.

      The book is set in St. Louis, and is told from the point of view of Kate, who has an identical twin sister Violet (Vi). According to the back cover “…in junior high, Kate makes a fateful decision that drives the sisters apart.” Eventually the sisters “find themselves drawn together again.”

      I don’t think that really adequately captures what this book is about. Maybe it’s a good thing, because I’m not sure I would have read it if I’d actually known what it was about. I’m not spoiling anything that you don’t learn ten pages in – these sisters are psychic. Yeah, I didn’t get a supernatural vibe from that description either, but that sixth sense is kind of a giant part of the book, and since it is introduced in the first chapter, it’s kind of odd it isn’t mentioned in the blurb. Or maybe they rightfully thought it might turn off people who would otherwise enjoy it. The ‘fateful decision’ also isn’t, really fateful. Or nearly as dramatic as the description would describe.

      But the book is really interesting because it follows a woman who is otherwise what we’d likely describe as ordinary. Educated woman not working outside the home because she’s raising two young children; husband with a decent job. She also has a less than ideal family, and had a much less than ideal childhood. The author does, I think, a good job of creating a very vivid world, and showing that not everyone who we think is ‘ordinary’ is as they appear. I’m not thrilled with the ending, although it seems fairly true to the characters involved. I say add it to your library list.
    • 5/5
      Although there were a few details I didn't like, over all I enjoyed this book very much. The relationship between the twins, one being kind of normal and main stream and the other flighty new age free spirited, I could really relate to. I'll be looking for other books by this author.
    • 2/5
      I had high hopes for this book. It looked like it would be really good. However it was a major let down. Though I could related with the main character and her struggles with keeping her identity while not failing as a stay at home mom with 2 kids and a wife I believe she was seriously depressed the whole time. The way her relationships were and the way she treated everything that happened was somewhat annoying. I thought this book would have more edge to it as the main concept was that her and her twin were psychic. It's been a long time since I've had to rate a book lower than a 3 star.
    • 5/5
      Another fantastic book by Curtis Sittenfeld. I wasn't entirely sure if I would like this book- I could not finish Prep because the narrator bothered me too much but I couldn't put down American Wife. After reading Sittenfeld's latest, I am sensing a pattern of not entirely likable narrators that are able to tell a fantastic story.

      The narrator of this novel is Kate Tucker, an average suburban housewife. She stays at home with her 2.5 children behind her white picket fence and her husband who is a professor at Washington University in St. Louis. (Admittedly, the connection to WashU and St. Louis made the book that much more enjoyable, as I am a student there myself.) However, the story that results is far from a typical suburban drama.

      Kate (real name Daisy Kathleen) and her identical twin sister Violet are gifted with ESP. While Violet embraces her gift and has become a self-professed psychic, Kate tries to leave her senses behind her and carry on with a normal life. However, when Violet goes on the news claiming that there will be a disastrous earthquake in St. Louis, Kate finds it difficult to keep up with her normal life. She ends up getting caught in the whirlwind that her sister started and finds that her life will never be the same.

      While this book does focus on Kate and Violet's ESP, it is more a novel of family conflict and attempted resolution. Sittenfeld is a gifted writer who can take a not entirely likable narrator and weave a heartfelt story of her trials and successes. While I was not sure that I would enjoy this book because of the supernatural element, I decided to give it a try because my love of American Wife and I was well rewarded. I may have to take another stab at Prep and see if, despite the shortcomings of the narrator, Sittenfeld manages to tell another well-rounded, beautifully written story.
    • 2/5
      I was very disappointed in this book. I skipped a lot of it. I think I confused it with another book with "sisters" or "sisterhood" in the title.
    • 3/5
      Very good, but not great. About sisters, yes. But also about twins, psychic abilities, families, and choices. I liked the characters, and the story line(s). But near the end it took a surprising turn I wasn't expecting. I'm not sure it really contributed to the rest of the story. Other reviews have said there wasn't a likable character in the book. I disagree; I liked almost everyone, at least at times.
    • 4/5
      While not a 5 star book in my opinion, this WAS a good book and I would recommend it to others.
    • 2/5
      It was ok. One twin, Kate, was very neurotic. She was uncomfortable with her psychic gifts and quite uncomfortable in her own skin really. The other twin, Vi, embraced her psychic gifts, was kind of sloppy, irresponsible, and outspoken. Both were narcissistic but in different ways.

      Kate was self-indulgent in her neurotic anxieties to the point it took over her life. She was a control freak who lost control of herself at one point.

      Vi was a bit harder for me to figure out because the novel was written from Kate's point of view. Vi was definitely quite self-absorbed. She might have had better luck becoming a mature adult if Kate didn't always bail her out. There was enabling going on.

      The writing style was good. The storyline sort of fizzled for me and I felt the end was rushed and enigmatic. On a side note, I've read a few books lately in which the male characters have to put up with a lot of crap from the female characters. It often results in the male characters seeming to have few flaws, which is very hard to believe!
    • 3/5
      This story had a lot of things going on in it, and at times I wasn't quite sure where we were going to end up, but overall I enjoyed it. The author did a good job portraying the loyalty and betrayals and just plain messiness of family life, particularly among sisters. 3.5 stars.
    • 3/5
      One of those books with characters who didn't seem likeable. None of them were horrible people, but more bland, flat & whiny. I did want to know what was going to happen so I was compelled to keep reading which is why it gets 3 stars instead of 2.
    • 4/5
      Once I got past the first few chapters, I actually liked this book and will probably read it again. it was slow to start, but otherwise entertaining.

      Read it again and liked it.
    • 3/5
      Violet and her twin sister Daisy/Kate are identical twins from St. Louis, born with 'senses'. They can predict the future. Flamboyant and carefree Violet embraces her gifts, making her living as a psychic. Daisy finds her ability embarrassing and even threatening at times. She shuns her abilities, changes her name to Kate in college and settles down to a very normal life as a stay at home mom to two young children. The twins lives are drastically changed in 2009 Violet predicts that an earthquake will strike St. Louise. Daisy/Kate, who had thought her senses all but gone, not only believes the prediction, but is certain the quake will hit on October 16th. As the date gets closer Violet becomes an instant celebrity. Meanwhile Kate struggles with her sisters sudden notoriety, her fears of the future and her own certainty that when October 16th comes, nothing will ever be the same.Sisterland is written from the point of view of Daisy/Kate. The timeline of the story alternates from 2009 to descriptions of the twins lives, from birth through life post college. The chapters that deal directly with the events occurring around the earthquake prediction are quite interesting. However the sections dealing with their childhoods and young adulthoods does tend to drag. Do readers really need an in depth description of Kate's every failed romance? It doesn't add to the overall story and after a while tends to drag the narration down. Despite this Sisterland did prove to be an enjoyable enough read.
    • 3/5
      While I did not enjoy Sisterland by Curtis Sittenfeld half as much as I thought I would, I can easily see how this book would attract others and recommend checking other reviews before picking up a copy.
    • 5/5
      The basics: Sisterland is the story of Violet and Kate, twin sisters who both are somewhat psychic. In adulthood, Vi has embraced her powers and works as a psychic. Kate, however, has disavowed her powers in an attempt to live a 'normal', happy life with her husband, a professor of science, and two children. When a minor earthquake hits St. Louis, Vi predicts a major one coming soon, and her prediction makes her an instant celebrity. Meanwhile, Kate shares a sense of Vi's prediction, while Jeremy does not.My thoughts: I adore the way Curtis Sittenfeld writes. I was highlighting my e-galley compulsively as I read. She builds the world and her characters beautifully and honestly. She inserts beautifully detailed observations that stopped me cold:"The feeling that gripped me in this moment was similar to what I imagined the relatives of an alcoholic must experience when they learn that their parent or child or sibling has gone on another bender: that mix of anger and disappointment and lack of surprise, a blend so exquisite, so familiar, it's almost like satisfaction."In this novel, the action begins in the present day, but most chapters include key elements of Kate and Vi's life told chronologically before jumping back to the present. In this sense, the story unfolds slowly, but the significance of small moments are amplified by the reader's growing understanding. The action in this novel occurs in 2009, and once Kate has finished explaining how she and Vi got to the present, a future present voice begins popping up. I'm a huge fan of the future present, as it can offer minor, tantalizing clues about how and where the story will end. Sittenfeld uses the future present masterfully in this novel. Favorite passage: "Do you think she's pretty?" Vi's voice was surprisingly vulnerable, and I thought how I had forgotten this part--how when you got together with someone new, you had to adjust to the ways in which they implicitly represented you. First you had to figure out what those ways were; then you had to determine whether you could put up with them."The verdict: Sisterland builds slowly, and near the end I began to fear Sittenfeld had written a glorious set up to an ultimately disappointing novel. The last chapter, however, is a literary tour de force and could serve as a masterclass in detailed plot development free of gimmicks.Rating: 5 out of 5
    • 3/5
      This is a book of squandered opportunity. It stars with such great promise and trickles to its end. The book is about twin girls with psychic powers one of which as an adult predicts a major earthquake along the New Madrid fault line in Missouri where they both live. The tension really builds in the first half of the book and I am fully engaged in the plot. All of a sudden the earthquake becomes secondary and the plot moves to domestic problems, race and infidelity and its after effects. It seems the author either got bored with the original plot or didn't know where to go with it. It was a classic bait and switch. The only reason I gave it three stars was that it was well written and easy to read. I have read very few books with as anticlimactic finishes as this one.
    • 4/5
      Really enjoyed this book. So glad I have two of her earlier books on my TBR shelves!
    • 3/5
      This book was a suspenseful, quick read, and Sittenfeld successfully captured the constant anxiety/stress of mothers of babies/toddlers. But I wanted the twins' psychic abilities to play a greater role. Without giving away the ending, I'll just say the climax ultimately disappointed me and overall, I'm not sure I'd recommend this story.
    • 4/5
      Book kindly provided by Netgalley.I quite enjoyed this book about sisters, particularly the chapters that took place during their teens. I have enjoyed the writings of Curtis Sittenfeld before, and I was not disappointed by this, her latest effort. The author has managed to weave together many themes, including opposite-gender friendships, marital relationships, and familial relationships, all in the context of characters' psychic abilities and natural disaster - really unique! Three and one-half stars out of five.
    • 4/5
      The story of twins, Violet and Daisy, who both have 'senses', feelings and dreams, predicting the future. One sister embraces and exploits her powers, the other, embarrassed and ashamed tries to hide hers.The story moves through their lives showing how feelings can shape our lives and all actions have consequences. Sisterland covers the love, hate, worry and feelings of protection sisters have for each other. Anyone with a sibling and especially a sister will recognize this relationship between Daisy and her sister as true. Curtis Sittenfeld tells us a fictional story that rings very true. This could be any of our lives, which makes it easy to read. But it isn't our life which makes it fascinating to read.
    • 3/5
      I greatly enjoyed the first two-thirds of "Sisterland," but then the book takes a turn which it never really recovers from. Sittenfeld does a fine job of imagining what life would be like with "senses." She takes it seriously, but doesn't turn it into something overly magical. I enjoyed the book when this was the main focus. Unfortunately, the last third of the book has a different focus (one that I didn't find nearly as interesting or compelling). The details that I thought were charming in the beginning, became burdensome as the book went on.
    • 1/5
      I liked the way the book started out, but the ending was filled with too much angst for me. Too many unanswered questions and turmoil but I guess that was the point. I must not have been in the right frame of mind - I put myself in Daisy's place and couldn't take the pressure.
    • 3/5
      Sisterland is the story of identical twin sisters who are both gifted with insight into the future. They each have different views of this "sense" and couldn't be more different. In spite of that, their lives are uniquely connected as the sign on their childhood door proclaims: Sisterland, population 2. Kate is the narrator of the story. She is the one who is traditional, married with 2 children, and has given up her career as well as her special sense. Vi is the free spirited and non-conforming sister who experiments with bisexuality and new age spirituality. Their paths had diverged in adulthood, but come together again like a head-on collision after a minor earthquake in their hometown of St. Louis and Vi's prediction of another significant earthquake on Oct. 16th. After that, their lives are reconnected, for better or for worse. I found the story line to be interesting and promising. I enjoyed the part that dealt with the relationships of the girls and their families. There were a bit too many directions to the story though, and I found myself wishing that it would just move along faster. The earthquake prediction and much of the lead into that event date seemed a bit tedious and overdone to me . I also started to get anxious in a bad way as the book began to come to a conclusion. It could have gone terribly wrong there and seemed to possibly be headed that way, but the author brought it around, and I actually liked how it finished. I did enjoy this book, and I would recommend it to fans of Ms. Sittenfeld. She tells a good story, and it has some very good points. I particularly liked the depictions of Kate as a mother of little ones. I liked the character of Kate's husband, Jeremy. He ends up to be one of the few characters that acts honorably throughout the book and exemplifies the best of human qualities. This book is certain to bring out some opinions, and to me that is a good thing. I thank Random House and NetGalley for the chance to read Sisterland.
    • 4/5
      I almost didn't read this based on others' reviews on GoodReads, so glad I listened to a friend instead who thought I would like it. Really a compelling read though I had just sworn off yet another book about twins, this one was told really well.
    • 5/5
      I saw Curtis Sittenfeld read from Sisterland at last year's Iowa City Book Festival. The book is about twins who have ESP. Kate has tried to squelch her abilities, while Violet has tried to make a career as a medium. The two sisters are able to co-exist in their hometown of St. Louis, even though Kate's life as a suburban wife and mother, is much different from Violet's single life. But when Violet predicts that an earthquake will hit St. Louis, the whole country's attention is drawn to the two sisters. At first, I wasn't sure that interested in a book about two sisters with ESP. But this book isn't really about the ability to predict the future. Instead it is about two women figuring out who they are and who they want to be. Issues of balancing between work and family and standing out versus blending in resonated with me. Sittenfeld knows how to tell a story as well. As the date for the predicted earthquake draws near and tension arises in the relationship between Kate and Violet, the pace of the book picks up. By the end, I had come to really care for Kate and Violet.
    • 2/5
      I had high hopes for this book. It looked like it would be really good. However it was a major let down. Though I could related with the main character and her struggles with keeping her identity while not failing as a stay at home mom with 2 kids and a wife I believe she was seriously depressed the whole time. The way her relationships were and the way she treated everything that happened was somewhat annoying. I thought this book would have more edge to it as the main concept was that her and her twin were psychic. It's been a long time since I've had to rate a book lower than a 3 star.
    • 5/5
      I have mixed feelings about this book. It was terribly compelling and by that I mean I was so frustrated and upset with the characters and their choices that I actually cried at the end of the book. Talk about doomed to repeat history. I haven't been this emotional about a book since Jo Jo Moyes': Me Before You but I was uplifted by that book. So if you like emotionally jarring, frustratingly real characters, this book is for you.
    • 4/5
      The twin sisters in Sisterland are psychic. Flamboyant Violet embraces - and commercializes - her gift, while reticent Kate, our narrator, is intent on suppressing hers. Kate is beside herself when Violet predicts that a major earthquake is going to hit their home town of St. Louis, especially when the national media get involved. Although Kate herself cannot dismiss Violet's vision and contributes to the media frenzy by assigning a date to the catastrophe, it still seems as if she is more concerned with Violet's weight, bad hair and bad manners than with the prospect of an earthquake squashing her kids.I really liked Sittenfeld's Prep and I really liked this. Her characters breathe, and they are all multifaceted. The heart of the book is much more in family relationships, rendered with considerable complexity, than in paranormal activity. It's not hard to believe in the story even if you absolutely do not believe in psychic ability, as I certainly do not - the reader can find natural explanations for most of the purported visions. (Only a part of the story concerned with finding a missing child required absolute suspension of disbelief). The reader isn't asked to pit one character against another, although I generally sympathized with crazy Violet over rigid Kate, with her pursed-lipped judgment against everyone around her. Kate is an unreliable narrator, and when we tell the stories of ourselves in our family, aren't we all?