Sisterland

A Novel

By: Curtis Sittenfeld

Narrated by: Rebecca Lowman

Length: 14 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

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.)

“Novelists get called master storytellers all the time, but Sittenfeld really is one. . . . What might be most strikingly excellent about Sisterland is the way Sittenfeld depicts domesticity and motherhood.”—Maggie Shipstead, The Washington Post

“Psychologically vivid . . . Sisterland is a testament to [Curtis Sittenfeld’s] growing depth and assurance as a writer.”—Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

“[Sittenfeld’s] gifts are in full effect with this novel, and she uses them to create a genuinely engrossing sense of uncertainty and suspense.”—Sloane Crosley, NPR’s All Things Considered

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.

Praise for Sisterland

“What’s most captivating about Sisterland is the intimate, intense portrayal of identical twin sisters. . . . [The novel] unfolds like a good prophecy—inevitable and shocking.”—San Francisco Chronicle

“The accomplished Sittenfeld . . . is as skillful as ever at developing an intriguing premise and likable characters. . . . Sittenfeld’s affectionate take on sibling rivalry is spot-on.”—People

“The power of [Sittenfeld’s] writing and the force of her vision challenge the notion that great fiction must be hard to read. She is a master of dramatic irony, creating fully realized social worlds before laying waste to her heroines’ understanding of them. . . . Her prose [is] a rich delight.”—The Boston Globe

“Wise and often wickedly entertaining . . . Readers who have siblings—especially women with sisters—will likely come away feeling as if the author really is psychic.”—USA Today

©2013 Curtis Sittenfeld (P)2013 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Psychologically vivid . . . Sittenfeld’s gifts for portraying the inner lives of her heroines [bring Sisterland] closer, in terms of emotional chiaroscuro, to two classics about pairs of sisters, The Old Wives’ Tale by Arnold Bennett and The Easter Parade by Richard Yates . . . Sisterland is a testament to the author’s growing depth and assurance as a writer.” (Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times)

“Novelists get called master storytellers all the time, but Sittenfeld really is one, a kind of no-nonsense, BabyBjörn-wearing Scheherazade. . . . What might be most strikingly excellent about Sisterland is the way Sittenfeld depicts domesticity and motherhood.” (Maggie Shipstead, The Washington Post)

“[Sittenfeld’s] gifts are in full effect with this novel, and she uses them to create a genuinely engrossing sense of uncertainty and suspense.” (Sloane Crosley, NPR’s All Things Considered)

Better than I thought it would be

Would you consider the audio edition of Sisterland to be better than the print version?

Didn't read the print version.

What did you like best about this story?

The twist - didn't see that coming!!

What does Rebecca Lowman bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Her emotional attachment to the characters.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, but not until the middle of the book - I was glued to my headphones!

Easy to enjoy

Another fun listen from Curtis Sittenfeld. Story centers around female twins who share a psychic ability. It's not all "supernatural thriller" tho; this is a modern story with a dash of the magical. And there's enough relationship strain to keep you interested.

A good listen and story

Would you try another book from Curtis Sittenfeld and/or Rebecca Lowman?

Yes, I liked American Wife very much and am going to listen to other books by author

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

N/A

Wonderful !!!

Wonderful book kept my attention great story about twins! I'm bias I have twins!

one of my faves

The world of this book feels so real to me. I adore the narrator too!

There are other fish in the sea

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

A better story

What was most disappointing about Curtis Sittenfeld’s story?

The psychic element being so minimal. Actually--the characters are so unlikeable. Can I just go on and say the story itself was the most disappointing part?

Which scene was your favorite?

I don't want to give away the ending, but I like a scene at the very end with Gabe.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

The narrator was pretty good. A little inconsistent at first, but it leveled out.

Disappointing

I love this author's other work and have read it all. The women characters in this book are so shallow and selfish and mean I wanted to stop reading (listening). The story was silly and contrived. The narration was draggy and whiny. Would not recommend.

BORING!!!!!

This book had an interesting summary.. But it took forever to get to the point.. It took every once of patients to finish this book.. I usually like books with eccentric characters with psychic abilities. I have to say the summary is the best part of this book. It reminds me of a movie preview. You pay the money to see this great movie, and all the best parts where in the trailer...
The book is about 2 sisters with psychic abilities, but one of the sisters does everything in her power to diminish her abilities.And it's the complete opposite with the other sister who is eccentric and proud to be a medium.
Violet the sister who is the medium predicts an earthquake.. She goes as far as to publicly admit to the prediction.And this prediction eventually brings the two sisters together.. BORING!!1

Waste of 15 hours

I don’t like to not finish books. Usually, I’ll end up liking a book about halfway through, when everything starts coming together. This was not the case.

This books has no storyline. It’s like a meandering journal kept by a boring housewife who isn’t sure who she likes to complain about more: her mom, her twin sister, her husband, or herself.

If you want to hear a privileged housewife complain about her life, by all means, read this book. If you want a book that makes sense, has any kind of interesting beginning, middle, or end, or just a single sympathetic character to care about, skip this book.

PS: Rebecca Lowman is a fantastic reader and her performance is the only thing that kept me going with this book.

Skip it

I only finished this book because I had purchased it on Audible and didn’t want to waste it....turns out I wasted it anyway. This book seemed to have no plot, I kept waiting for something exciting to happen, but I was let down many times. I am an avid reader and this is 1 book I would never recommend. Basically, it was just all around boring!