Sisterland

Sisterland (Curtis Sittenfeld, 2013)

How I stumbled upon it: I had previously read Prep and American Wife, both by Sittenfeld, so I wanted to read this, too!

What it's about: Two twin sisters, Vi and Kate, were born with "senses" that differentiate them from their peers in their ability to sense things that are happening in the present (someone is having an affair) or in the future (there may be an earthquake in St. Louis).   Kate is a very normal and well adjusted stay at home mom who has left her "senses" and any talk of them in the past, while Vi is an eccentric hippie making her living as a medium.  When Vi predicts on national TV that an earthquake will hit St. Louis, it forces the sisters to come together in spite of the things that have kept them from having a relationship as adults.

What I thought: I really like Sittenfeld's books.  I think they are always interesting and well written and the characters are always well developed so you don't want to put down the book until you know what will happen next.  Sisterland is still good, but not nearly as good as American Wife or Prep were.  Sisterland alternates between flashbacks and the present tense so that you are able to understand the history of the characters better as the present is unfolding. The only thing that truly bothered me was the Jerry Springer-esque marriage drama in the last 50 pages that seemed like it was coming out of left field at the end that was totally unnecessary to develop the plot. It's not my favorite of her books, but I have definitely read much worse.

You can get it here.