Sisters

Gorgeously written tale of psychological suspense. Easily the most immersive book I’ve picked up in a year. If you want a neat and tidy story in conventional packaging, this one is not for you. But, if you appreciate ambiguity and complexity delivered in dreamy, fluid prose, you are in for a treat. Reminds me a bit of both Henry James and Heidi Julavits.

Sisters is very well written but as a novel of psychological suspense it lacks just that. It needs the kind of plot twists that would really keep the reader interested. The two sisters are caught up in an abusive relationship that becomes tedious. I think the characters are more fascinating to the writer than the reader.

It started out intriguing and differently written, but you figured out what was going on early, and it made the rest of the book annoying and tedious….

This book is well-written and the author had an interesting idea, hence the 2 stars. But nothing much happens in it except a series of hallucinatory episodes that may be real and may not be; it’s repetitive, often gross, and I stopped caring about the characters after a while. The big reveal is not really supported by the early allusions to “what happened at the tennis courts” and the way the mother’s behavior is described. I was tired of it when I was only 3/4 done and the ending didn’t make the slog worthwhile.

A taut, twisty, mind-bending read that is so superbly written, so lyrical and tragic.

Something unspeakable and unbearable happened between sisters July and September. What presents as not-quite a thriller, not quite-a novel, not-quite horror or prose poetry, it is but all of those things, and that’s what makes SISTERS (Riverhead, August 2020) such a slippery one to pin down. Reading this story is strange and fantastical, a bit like a folktale with dark vibes, a fever dream.

If you are looking for something more conventional, SISTERS, probably isn’t it. If you’re hoping for an intriguing, highly troubling characterization of two teenaged sisters being raised by a despondent mother–likely suffering from at least depression–you’re in for a treat.

Desperate for a fresh start, July and September’s mother, Sheela, moves the family from Oxford to the coast (North York moors), to an old home that has been in the family for years. Already, I’m hooked. The house has it’s share of problems, and a dark, looming history that immediately lends to a great feeling of unease.

Here, these sisters are caught in a taut web of lies, envy, love, dark impulses, and more. . But it also speaks to dysfunction and perception. Are all relationships cyclical? Are they constantly chasing one another? Are we part of each other, or our own separate beings?

There were so many darn good lines in this slim novel; ones about the house completely gutted me:

”This the year we are houses, lights on in every window, doors that won’t quite shut.”
”The house is going to float away and take my darling girls with it.”

The house becomes a character, a significant, misty presence looming over the small family. No one in the family is ‘quite right.’ Depression looms, so too does death (the father died before the last sister was born). The house seems alive, full of sounds and shadows, memories and lurking threats. The rain doesn’t stop, the birds are menacing, the ants are crawling inside the walls, whispers and cracks.

”The Settle House is load-bearing. Here is what it bears: Mum’s endless sadness, September’s frightful wrath, my quiet failures to ever do quite what anyone needs me to do, the seasons, the death of small animals in the scrublands around it, every word that we say in love or anger to one another.”

Everyone here is a little fragile, a bit unbalanced. What has happened to this house? What has happened to this family? The twist–the answer–may surprise you. In fact, I’m still chewing on ‘just-what-happened,’ myself.

SISTERS is a mind-bending read that will have you either in awe, or perhaps scratching your head, maybe both. I have theories, but don’t want to spoil it. Let me know your thoughts if you read it.

I was reminded, in part, for various reasons, of: THE NEED (Helen Phillips) meets well, FEVER DREAM (Samanta Schweblin) along with Shirley Jackson’s THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE and touches of Alice Hoffman’s BLACKBIRD HOUSE. You might also want to look at the work of Karen Russell, particularly her collection ORANGE WORLD. But also! Laird Hunt’s IN THE HOUSE IN THE DARK OF THE WOODS.

L.Lindsay|Always with a Book

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