Curtis Sittenfeld

When the strongest earthquake in U.S. history occurs just north of their St. Louis home, Kate and Jeremy find the disaster further complicated by Kate's self-proclaimed-medium twin's prediction about a more powerful earthquake, a situation that places Kate under public scrutiny and reveals her own psychic abilities.

a novel

Sisterland

For identical twins, Kate and Violet are about as unlike as two peas from the same pod can be. Except in one respect - they share a hidden gift they call 'the Senses', a special kind of intuition that can allow them to see things that are yet to come. After Kate inadvertently reveals their secret when they are thirteen years old, they are set on diverging paths into their adult lives. Twenty years later Kate is a suburban housewife who suppresses her premonitions in the hope of leading a normal family life, while Violet lives alone and works as a psychic medium. Then one day Violet ignites a media storm by predicting a major earthquake in the St Louis area where they live. As the day Violet has announced for the earthquake draws nearer, the sisters must grapple with the legacy of the past, the confusion of the present, and the unsettling glimpses they both have of the future.

Caroline

A weekend read suiting a sunny day. Nothing ground breaking but a plot line different to others and a portrait of everyday life with a twist of otherness.

Jessica Ford

I'd give this 3.5. It was a good book. I really liked the main character, Kate, and her wacky sister, Vi. It was a fun, interesting story, but I didn't like how the ending came together. It just seemed so out of character for Kate.

Robin M Cabana

I don't think Sisterland is a very good name for this book. That would be a story about two sisters - maybe told from alternate points of view - and how their unusual senses effect their actions and relationships.

But this story is mostly about Kate, a suburban stay-at-home mom who happens to have a twin sister Vi, who makes a prediction about an earthquake and who shows up occasionally to offer some comic relief. We learn all about Kate's childhood, her boyfriends, her work history, her friendship with a SAHD named Hank, her kids, her routines, her relationship with her parents and school friends, her feelings about race and sometimes her own psychic abilities. And sometimes I just thought it was TMI. I didn't even really like Kate. I think she was pretty judgmental, especially when it comes to her sister. (I especially didn't like her opinions about single women and adulthood!) I thought that Kate, perhaps, was really the crazier of the pair. 

When things finally get rolling, I think there are some interesting dilemmas and earthquakes the characters must face - and that is what I liked about the book. The last few chapters seemed like an entirely different novel. I wish that Sittenfeld could have gotten to that point sooner - with a lot less background and a lot more Vi.

Sisterland a novel

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