Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Tuesday Memes: Sisterland


Every Tuesday Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea hosts First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros, where you can share the first paragraph, or a few, of a book you are reading or thinking about reading soon.

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along!

Today I am spotlighting Sisterland by Curtis Sittenfeld

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.

Opening Paragraph

Prologue

December 1811
New Madrid, Louisiana Territory

    The first earthquake wasn’t the strongest –– that would come later, in February 1812 –– but it must have been the most astonishing. It occurred shortly after two in the morning, and I imagine it awakening the people of New Madrid: the farmers and fur traders, the French Creoles and Indians and American pioneers. More men the women lived in the river town, and few families; the population was probably less than a thousand. The people were lying in their beds on this cold and ordinary night when without warning a tremendous cracking sound interrupted the quiet, a growing thunder, followed by the impossible fact of the quake itself: the rocking not just of their beds or floors or houses but of the land beneath them. Whether they stayed inside or hurried out, they’d have heard their animals crying, heard trees snapping, the Mississippi roaring up; so much fog and smoke filled the darkness that they would have felt the roll of the earth before they realized they could see it, to undulating like the ocean. In some places, the ground split apart and flung up water, sand, and rocks, entire trees it had swallowed shortly before, and in turn it devoured horses and cows. Rising out of the cracks and holes was the smell of sulfur, like the wicked breath of the devil emanating from deep underground.

My Teaser

    “I thought they’d blow me off, but I was put right through to a producer. I probably should have brushed my hair this morning, huh?” Vi laughed.
page 35


So...what do you think? Is this one you would pick up? Leave a comment below!

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17 comments:

  1. I loved Sittenfeld's American Wife...so I'd keep reading!

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  2. This sounds like it would be really good! I would keep reading. I like books like this.

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  3. What an interesting way to portray a relationship of two sisters. Sounds good!
    My Teaser.

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  4. This sounds fabulous! A little bit of everything (except vampires, fortunately, lol).

    Mine this week is from a series mystery: The Closers by Michael Connelly (Harry Bosch #11) at http://wp.me/pZnGI-aU

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  5. I read this one a while ago...and while I enjoyed it, I wished that we could have seen Vi's perspective, too; it was all from Kate's POV. Thanks for sharing...and for visiting my blog.

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  6. The opening doesn't really draw me in, but the summary sounds promising so I'd continue.

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  7. I love this opening paragraph! I would definitely keep reading.

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  8. LOVE the description in the prologue. This sounds like a book I would thoroughly enjoy.
    My Teaser is from WHERE OR WHEN.

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  9. Good choice, Kim. I have a copy of this one sitting on a shelf just waiting for me to get to it.

    Thanks for stopping by my blog.

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  10. This looks really interesting, so I'd keep reading. The opening paragraph is so vivid. I've heard good things about this book. I'll look forward to your review! Thanks for stopping by my blog!

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  11. Good intro and good story - I listened to the audio some time ago --enjoy Kim.

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  12. I've heard about this book before and the story sounds like a must read. Indeed, you reminded me to get this on my TBR pile.
    Peggy @ The Pegster Reads

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  13. Sounds really interesting. Thanks for sharing.

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  14. The description captures me, but I've not enjoyed books by this author before. I'll wait to see what you think.

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  15. Good things always happen when you look terrible! :) I didn't realize what this one was about, though I'd heard of it. Sounds really interesting! :D Great teaser!

    Rachel @ Paper Cuts

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