This summer I have been devouring books like gummi bears. I just finished "Sisterland" by Curtis Sittenfeld, the author of "American Wife" and "Prep."
The book tells the story of twin sisters, Daisy and Violet, who have a special gift. Whether they want to or not, they can sense the future. They discover their talent in middle school and it both rewards and plagues them as they grow older.
In adulthood, Daisy decides to shed her psychic abilities. In fact, she chooses to go by her middle name, Kate, so no one will associate her with the predictions of her childhood. Violet, on the contrary, has turned being a medium into her full time job.
Much of the book is about the power struggle between the twins. This tension centers around Violet's prediction that a major earthquake is coming to their hometown of St. Louis. She makes such a stink in fact, she winds up on the news. Kate reflects:
"The feeling that griped 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."
When the story shifts away from Kate and Violet, it zeroes in on Kate's relationship with her husband, Jeremy. We learn through flashbacks that Kate always had a boyfriend - high school, college and beyond. Though she pretended to be happy each time, she was masquerading.
I love this passage where Kate describes her first date with Jeremy:
"He's put on music - Van Morrison - while I was in the bathroom, and pretty much immediately we were making out on his tan couch, and then we moved with little discussion to the bedroom, and we never got under the cover; within ten minutes we were both completely naked, and he was pulling out a condom from a drawer in a table beside the bed, and though I had had enough boyfriends that I'd learned how to be a girlfriend who conveyed what felt good, I had never before encountered a guy who, the very first time, seemed to just know. He was alert to every way I moved, every sound I made - and it wasn't that I was particularly noisy - and he adjusted the way he touched me accordingly, doing more or less of whatever it was he'd already been doing. I was very drunk, of course, and delirious with lust, but I had a fleeting moment in which I though, with total clarity, I cannot believe I found this guy. Then I felt, in the happiest possible way, like I was exploding."
For me, the most fascinating relationship in the whole book is between Kate (now a stay-at-home mom) and her neighbor, Hank. Hank is a stay-at-home dad and lives around the corner. His wife works at the local university with Jeremy. Since they have children the same age, Kate and Hank form a very strong bond. That relationship grows and intensifies throughout the book, culminating in a plot twist that threw me for a major loop!
I read this 400 page book over three days and I was gripped the entire time. Sittenfeld writes beautifully about the human condition - about the way people are flawed and imperfect, and how we all do our best to accept, cope and move forward. I can't recommend it strongly enough.
Now I am reading "Delirium" by Lauren Oliver, which was recommended by a friend. I'd say on the spectrum of "Twilight" to "Hunger Games," it's right in the middle.
What are you currently reading?
*Image courtesy of CurtisSittenfeld.com.
