Come and chat to CURTIS SITTENFELD about SISTERLAND (and all her previous books), Tues 4 Mar 2014, 9-10pm

[TillyBookClub]

Following the international success of her two previous bestsellers PREP and AMERICAN WIFE, Curtis Sittenfeld has been called the new Donna Tartt, the new Anne Tyler, the new Alice Munro (her own favourite writer). Her latest novel, SISTERLAND, is about a pair of twins, Violet and Kate, who both have psychic visions, or ‘the senses’ as they call them. As they grow up in their suburban, dysfunctional household, it becomes clear that Violet is going to be Bad Twin (drops out of school, can’t maintain a relationship, embraces her ESP with relish) and Kate the Good Twin (gets married, has two children, completely denies her psychic powers in the hope of a ‘normal’ life). But when Vi predicts a giant earthquake will hit their town, the resulting publicity and fame forces both sisters to reconsider their attitudes. Vi is a brilliant character – funny, crazy, flaky. Kate’s struggle with the daily joys and anxieties of motherhood and marriage is expertly observed. And over all this runs the ticking time-bomb of Vi’s prediction and whether the earthquake will actually happen. A clever combination of the paranormal and the everyday ultra-normal, this is a wise, funny and highly enjoyable read from an author we might call the new Kate Atkinson…

You can find more on Curtis’ highly informative website including her journalism.

Random House have 50 copies to give to Mumsnetters – to claim yours please fill in your details on the book of the month page. We’ll post here when all the copies have gone. If you’re not lucky enough to bag one of the free books, you can always get your paperback or Kindle version here.

We are thrilled that Curtis will be joining us and answering questions about SISTERLAND, her writing career and her previous novels on Tuesday 4 March, 9-10pm. ??So please feel free to discuss the book here throughout the month, pop up any advance questions and we will see you all here, Tue 4 March.

I need to remember this is tomorrow.

Curtis - Prep is one of my all time favourite books. I absolutely loved it - it took me back to my love of Malory Towers but added a real grown up (and well written ) element to it. I've recommended it to far too many people. I sort of want to beg you to write more Ault stories, but I know that's probably very irritating. So I will sit on my hands and reread Prep instead.

Hi, everyone-
Just posting a test message to make sure the system is working in anticipation of our chat tomorrow. I look forward to hearing more of your thoughts and questions (even those of you who didn't fall in love with the book!).
Maybe tomorrow one of you will explain to me why in the "Smileys list" below a biscuit means "No comment"...?

I read and enjoyed Sisterland, and Prep, but LOVED An American Wife. In fact, might dig it out and read it again now...

I'm looking forward to reading Curtis' answers tomorrow...

Read this in two sittings. It made for perfect lazy weekend self indulgent reading, slightly reminiscent of 'The Virgin Suicides' in its dreamy evocation of the adolescence of children who are on the margins of society. I was both puzzled by and drawn to the amount of detail. The flavours of Oscars jars, for example, sucked me in to Kate's zealousness. I sympathised and empathised with Kate and could relate to her, her relationship with Vi reminded me very much if my relationship with my own sister. I didnt think the perfect wife/ mother image was an act, i felt she was genuinely trying to contain her subversiveness until it finally implodes. I suspected all along that there was more to Hank and her and I'm not one for predictions but it was beautifully subtle. No questions, but glad I read this.

Looking forward to tonight's web chat. I was lucky enough to receive a copy of Sisterland from the mums net book club too.

I enjoyed the book but did find the cover and blurb a little misleading as I was expecting quite a tense thriller style of read and instead found the book quite an accurate representation of modern parenting which was a little slow going in parts.

I actually quite liked Kate as a main character - Vi irritated me considerably and I found the amount of media attention that her prediction received was a little implausible really. (SPOILER: I was glad that the earthquake didn't happen though. It would have been far too neat and easy to have her proven correct. I also liked how easily she brushed it off and moved on with her life.)

One feature that did strike me was the representation of breastfeeding as this is never really mentioned in fiction (beyond the newborn days or as a chore in the comedy 'mum lit' style novels.) It was nice to see this mentioned as an everyday part of Kate's life and not in a patronising propaganda way. I was wondering whether that kind of detail was included for any specific purpose?

I'm really looking forward to the chat tonight. I enjoyed the book very much.
Unlike some other book clubbers, I actually loved the minutiae of Kate's everyday life at home with the kids. A domestic life (or maybe any life) is one that can't be accurately told without dealing in the detail. I think it also serves a similar purpose to the unfolding back story of the twins' childhood and adolescence. Sharing the sisters' past and the detail of Kate's day-to-day with the reader somehow draws us in closer. In fact, it struck me that this is what family relationships are mostly made of - a shared history and 'what shall we have for tea?'. That pretty much sums up my relationship with my sister anyway. No detail is too trivial for us!
I'm probably a bit late for a question but would love to know more about the thinking behind Curtis's treatment of ESP in the novel. I think it probably occupies exactly the right amount of space but you can't help wanting more of it!

@TillyBookClub

Just a quick reminder to put all your advance questions up here, and don't forget you can ask about any of Curtis' books...

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@brendarenda

I'm really looking forward to the chat tonight. I enjoyed the book very much. Unlike some other book clubbers, I actually loved the minutiae of Kate's everyday life at home with the kids. A domestic life (or maybe any life) is one that can't be accurately told without dealing in the detail. I think it also serves a similar purpose to the unfolding back story of the twins' childhood and adolescence. Sharing the sisters' past and the detail of Kate's day-to-day with the reader somehow draws us in closer. In fact, it struck me that this is what family relationships are mostly made of - a shared history and 'what shall we have for tea?'. That pretty much sums up my relationship with my sister anyway. No detail is too trivial for us! I'm probably a bit late for a question but would love to know more about the thinking behind Curtis's treatment of ESP in the novel. I think it probably occupies exactly the right amount of space but you can't help wanting more of it!

Thanks for your comments - you're not too late to ask a question. Curtis will be joining us between 9 and 10pm and taking questions throughout the hour as well as getting through as many of the advance questions as possible during the hour. It's great to see so much discussion this month.

Hi Curtis,

What are your own views on 'psychic abilities' and did you visit a psychic when researching the book? Enjoyed the book!

[Spoiler alert] The question I'd like to ask is about the idea that men and women can't be close friends without intimacy developing. When we first meet Hank in the book and discover how close his relationship with Kate is, I did think an affair of some sort was inevitable. Were you concerned about that seeming so unavoidable - did you ever have a version of the book in your head which they didn't hook up?

I'm just posting now in case I can't join in the web chat tonight (pesky kids...!) but I will try.

I've enjoyed the book (thanks Mumsnet). I found it slow-going to begin with but by half way in I felt it was beautifully paced, with the alternation between the present and the past so well-balanced, like layers of paint being added to the character. I don't see Kate as submissive - I see her as someone who has made a really conscious decision about how she wants her life to play out and dedicates herself to it (until it all starts to unravel obviously). Vi was interesting whilst being annoying and in some ways their being twins reminded me a bit of the "Sliding Doors" film - this is how my life could have turned out. Like an alternative reality.

I found the depiction of family relationships in the book so so true - ageing parents and children, the sibling thing of them driving you to distraction but yet being able to understand them in a way no-one else can because of your shared childhood, and the ways that the demands of your own family (the one you've created) can clash with those of the family you came from. I found all the detail about motherhood very realistic and not too much - all rings very true. Even though I'm not nearly as rigorous as Kate about routine etc etc I know a lot of people who are. The bits about college life and that slightly rudderless feeling you can get when leaving university also brought back some memories - I really like your writing Curtis.

I didn't find the level of attention Vi got especially believable. I can't imagine that it would have got much further than the local press. But in a way it didn't matter, it was a way to build the story and make matters escalate out of the family's hands. The prediction and the idea of the senses a great one on lots of levels but I'd like to know where Curtis got the idea from. Was it something you read that set an idea running in your head, or were you looking for a device that would give a time pressure to the plot and take matters out of the hands of the immediate protagonists?

(Sorry this is all slightly garbled - typing between flipping pancakes. Hope to be back later!)

My question for Curtis is - you seem to tread a very careful line with your portrayal of ESP between scepticism and credibility. Is that deliberate? Was there ever a point when you were planning on having a real earthquake on the predicted date (instead of/as well as the domestic one)?

Evening everyone

I'm thrilled to welcome Curtis Sittenfeld, author of American Wife and Prep, who joins us tonight from St Louis to discuss her latest novel, SISTERLAND.

Curtis, thank you very much indeed once again for taking the time to be here tonight (or this afternoon as I think it is for you? And can I quickly find out: are you flipping batter for Pancake Day as we are here in UK?)

Congratulations on your insightful, funny, beautifully written books - and on their bestselling success. We'll kick off with the advance questions from further up the thread. And then we'll aim to get through as many as possible over the next hour.

I'd also like to ask you the two standard Mumsnet questions we like to ask all Bookclub authors:

Which childhood book most inspired you?

What would be the first piece of advice you would give anyone attempting to write fiction?

Over to you…

@TillyBookClub

Evening everyone

I'm thrilled to welcome Curtis Sittenfeld, author of American Wife and Prep, who joins us tonight from St Louis to discuss her latest novel, SISTERLAND.

Curtis, thank you very much indeed once again for taking the time to be here tonight (or this afternoon as I think it is for you? And can I quickly find out: are you flipping batter for Pancake Day as we are here in UK?)

Congratulations on your insightful, funny, beautifully written books - and on their bestselling success. We'll kick off with the advance questions from further up the thread. And then we'll aim to get through as many as possible over the next hour.

I'd also like to ask you the two standard Mumsnet questions we like to ask all Bookclub authors:

Which childhood book most inspired you?

What would be the first piece of advice you would give anyone attempting to write fiction?

Over to you?

Thanks, Tilly! I'm so glad to be joining all of you. Unfortunately, I am not presently making or eating pancakes, but I wish I were.

As for your questions, there are so many books I just loved as a child, but one of my all-time favorites was a beautifully-illustrated copy of the fairytale “The Twelve Dancing Princesses.” I loved the worlds-within-worlds aspect of it, the glamour and secrecy.

Regarding writing advice, this is rather boring and practical, but schedule time when you’re going to write and write it down in your diary or calendar or whatever you keep online. And then don’t schedule anything that conflicts with it. This is especially important if you have children, which you probably do if we’re meeting on Mumsnet! You don’t need to write every day, but you need to do it regularly, even if it’s just for an hour or two three times a week. Knowing you’ll go back to it will keep the wheels turning in your head even when you’re away from your work.

@sparkysparkysparky

Question for Curtis (SPOILER ALERT): I enjoyed the book. The twins were completely convincing in the choices they made. You gave the question of race a very light touch and this was the only area that I felt needed more. Kate's decision to tell her husband seemed motivated solely by Hank being a black man. Did you consider giving Hank and Jeremy the same heritage?

SPOILER ALERT
I did consider making Jeremy and Hank the same race, which likely would have been white. I don’t think it was crucial to the plot that Hank be black, but it did mean that if Kate had the baby, the child’s paternity would be obvious in a way it wouldn’t be if the father were white. I think plenty of white Americans—including liberal or progressive ones—have few or no close black friends, and, aside from the sexual tension in Kate and Hank’s friendship, I was interested in exploring the ways race does and doesn’t factor in. It can be awkward to discuss, but how can it not have some significance?
Interestingly, though Hank’s race is mentioned a couple times early on, many readers get to the end of the book not realizing he’s black. However, I personally am not a fan of white writers (and I’m white) dwelling on the exact shade of a black character’s skin—mocha, caramel, etc.

@CreepyLittleBat

I finished Sisterland last night and have to admit that it's not the kind of book I'd usually go for. The subject matter and cover image said "reading group book" to me but the quote on the cover about it being a page-turner is certainly true. I was often up way too late into the night muttering "just another page...just another two pages"!

I said upthread that I hoped my plot predictions were going to be disproved, but I was a bit disappointed when the Kate-Hank story played out pretty straightforwardly. Nice touch at the end with the possibility of Gabe having the senses though - I thought that even if it was a bit predictable, that was lightly done and well written.
On the subject of the senses, this could easily have been far fetched, but I thought it was well handled and believable. The story about the sisters helping to find Brady Ogden was great, and I wished I could read that book!

I was wondering early on in the book if we'd get multiple viewpoints, and wish we had really, as I found Kate a dull character. On the other hand, she had deliberately made herself into that person in order to escape the oddity of her childhood. I would have liked to have the point of view of Courtney, Vi, Jeremy or Stephanie. (Hank was a bit too nice for me)

I found Kate very irritating when she felt it necessary to tell us (for example) she only had one beer a day and one coffee while breastfeeding, but I can see that it was setting her up as strait-laced only to break that image later on. An annoying narrator is hard to get past though!

I found the little girl Rosie beautifully written, and very authentic. The endearing things she said and did were not sickeningly twee as in some books, but had the ring of truth.

I enjoyed Sisterland, and would probably look out for other Curtis Sittenfeld books in the library. I've already recommended it to a friend. Thank you

I understand what readers mean when they say they found Kate dull or self-righteous, though I find her sympathetic. I see her as someone who’s basically uptight by design because she’s trying to hold at bay internal and external chaos. I never really considered writing the book from alternating points of view. Although I have enjoyed some books like that, I often find that it dilutes the power of the story-telling and also that you can tell which character the author favors—the book just comes alive in his or her sections. As a writer and reader, I’d usually rather immerse myself deeply in one character’s point of view.

@PenelopeLane

Possible spoiler alert

I enjoyed this book, although being from NZ where we have a lot of earthquakes I struggled with the idea that quite so many people would believe one person's prediction. I guess that's because there was a case of someone predicting earthquakes here, he's known as the Moon Man and has been publicly ridiculed. While some people may believe what he says, most people don't and no-one has really changed their routines based on his predictions, unlike in the book. So while the book was well enough written that I could suspend disbelief and enjoy the idea of the sisters being able to see the future, I couldn't quite quite believe that Vi would have received the attention that she did.

The earthquake prediction is actually based on a real prediction by a real person, Iben Browning, who said an earthquake would occur in a particular area of the Midwest on or around a certain day in December 1990. It didn’t happen, but people, even educated people, bought earthquake insurance, shipped their china out of town, stored running shoes in the trunks of their cars and water bottles in their basements, and in some cases left town. I think the reaction was so strong because 1) major earthquakes DON’T normally happen in the American Midwest, so people don’t live with, and have to accept, that daily possibility as they do in, say, California and 2) a series of huge earthquakes DID happen around here in 1811-1812, so that made Browning’s claims more plausible. Seeming unlikely but not impossible is perhaps the best recipe for inciting fear?

@SarahAndFuck

I didn't win a copy of Sisterland but I did buy a copy last week and finished it today. I did enjoy it, so much so that yesterday I went out to buy American Wife and Prep as well and am reading (and enjoying) Prep now.

I admit I was expecting the book to be harder to read, less accessible than it was, so I was pleasantly surprised to get hooked from the start.

SPOILERS BELOW

I have to agree that the ending felt a little rushed. Given that most of the book is building up to the date of the earthquake it felt very odd to take such a sudden turn into the issues of Hank being suspected of kidnapping and then Kate being unfaithful and her dilemma about telling Jeremy and keeping the baby.

Given that she had a premonition about two white babies, I thought it odd that she didn't know the paternity of the baby herself when the time came.

And I was interested in their father being the parent they inherited their senses from.

The question I would like to ask is, why did you make Kate and Violet identical twins rather than just siblings?

I wondered if it were because some people believe twins do have senses or abilities, at least towards each other? Or if their identical appearance helped to show the differences between their lives and their choices more than anything else did.

I'm also very interested in ktiq's question, although I suspected that the reason Hank didn't push the issue was because he didn't really want to know the answer and was able to avoid it in a way Kate obviously couldn't, especially as Kate and Jeremy were moving away. Now he can tell himself that he did at least do the right thing and ask, and he doesn't have to rock the boat with Courtney and Amelia.

Nice Mumsnet nickname!

So the reason I made Kate and Violet identical twins is that I felt being twins was a potentially more dramatic and intense version of the typical sibling relationship. The fact of their being the same age means neither is in an automatic leadership role. Even though twins are pretty commonplace these days, when you really think about the phenomenon of identical twins, of one being splitting in two, it’s rather amazing.

I agree with your analysis of Hank—he doesn’t know because he doesn’t want to know, although at some level he does know.

How did you research ESP?

Why did you want to write about Sisters and twins?

@clevernickname

Mumsnet - thank you for my free copy, it was much appreciated!

To everyone posting above who found Kate irritating with her perfect mother act - I think this was borne out of the character's genuine anxieties about her children which were rooted in her childhood and also, more interestingly, this reflects modern notions of parenthood in America. Even having one coffee and one beer per day whilst breastfeeding would seem quite devilishly carefree by the standards of many Americans.

Question for Curtis: I really admire how you relay a precise sense of time and place in your fiction; for example, Sisterland was peppered with references to strip malls, smoothies, stairclimbing (the exercise du jour in the '90s) and the presence or absence of email and cell phones which made me howl with recognition of the recent past (e.g. the formal, accurately punctuated emails between Vi and Kate in their first weeks of college). How do you decide which details of everyday life are worth including and which might be tedious or lack meaning for a broad audience?

Your question about which details of everyday life are worth including is a great one and frankly, just based on reader responses on Mumsnet, it’s clear that not all readers think I chose correctly! I had a wonderful writing teacher named Frank Conroy who would say “Writing fiction is a combination of knowing what you’re doing and not knowing what you’re doing.” A lot of times I just intuitively do or don’t put something in a novel, and then if it seems fine, I leave it, and if it seems wrong, I remove it (I revise quite a lot). It’s a bit like getting dressed in the morning. If someone said, “Why are you wearing that shirt?” your response would likely be something like, “I put it on, and then I didn’t take it off.”

@areyoutheregoditsmemargaret

Thank you very much for the book, much appreciated.

Posting my question now while it's fresh in my mind - was it a hard decision to give Kate the sole narrative POV, rather than sharing with Vi?

And How has becoming a mother yourself affected what you want to write about it and how you physically write?

I’m a much more efficient writer now that I have young children (mine are currently three and about to turn five). I spend less time reading celebrity gossip online (though I do still reserve some time for my daily fix). I used to think that if I didn’t have about four hours to immerse myself in my fictional world, I wouldn’t bother to start working, but now if I have ninety minutes, I’ll set the alarm on my iPhone and get cracking. That said, I never write fiction in the same room with my children. Some people do (not necessarily by choice, obviously), but those two mindsets feel very separate to me.

@turkeybaby

I enjoyed the book a lot and read it really quickly. I can understand what everyone is saying about Kate, but I didn't find her irritating I just thought she was trying really hard to not be her mum.

I was expecting something more at the end though so was disappointed. I thought there would be something about their mum or dad's involvement in their senses and that was there way of looking after them all along.

I thought maybe it was implied that their dad was guardian....that he was giving vi the answers.... Is there anything in that CURTIS?

Hmm…the idea of the dad being Guardian is not one that had occurred to me, but I like it. The parents are non-communicative in what I think of as a particular American Midwestern kind of way (of course not all Midwesterners are like this!). But they essentially avoid any topic of importance in favor of discussing trivial, non-fraught ones.

@busybee1978

SPOILER ALERT

I bought a copy and have just finished it. I found the first four hundred pages really, really tedious- one more reference to nursing or naps and the book was going out the window- but I found real strength in the depiction of the adultery and its aftermath, and thought the book had a great ending, which is often the hardest thing to achieve.

My question for Curtis would be, was the constant reference or nursing, strollers, purée and naps deliberate in order to make Kate the cliche of a suburban housewife, and was it not a risk to give a single POV to someone who does nothing exciting until the last third of the narrative? And, although I think someone has already asked this, what made her decide just how much minutiae to leave in? I was also horrified by Kate's judgemental attitude and sanctimoniousness, and I have to say I felt a certain relish when she fell off her pedestal, but with so strong an ending it would have been nice for her to come to these realisations half way through, and then developed her post-adultery character further.

I would be interested to now try Prep or American Wife.

I thought your comment about finding the first 400 pages “really tedious” was so funny I tweeted it yesterday. Don’t you think life is too short to stay with a book you don’t like for so long? I give up after 50 pages. As for risking boring the reader until the final quarter, no novel will please everyone and I’m not writing to convince people who don’t like my work that they should like it. I’m not running for elected office. I understand that Kate’s concerns can feel very mundane, and you’re certainly not the only reader who has reacted this way, but I see it as a kind of sleight-of-hand to make people think they’re reading about changing diapers when they’re really reading about a woman making the biggest mistake (in certain ways) of her life.

@DuchessofMalfi

I finished reading it this afternoon. Unfortunately I didn't enjoy it as much as I had hoped I would. The character of Kate annoyed me - it seemed all too easy for her to "forget about" her husband conveniently and sleep with Hank, her supposed friend. Why would she suddenly choose to do that? It seemed out of character.

All the way through I thought I didn't like Vi. Her alleged psychic powers made her appear odd. But by the end, I found myself liking her better - she was a strong character, answerable to no-one but herself, and not diminished by her perceived failed prophecy.

However, my thought about Vi's (and Kate's) prophecy of the earthquake was more to do with the upheavals in their own family.

So my question to Curtis Sittenfeld is - was the earthquake prophecy, to some extent, allegorical? Vi saw a disaster approaching, but it was personal to her sister. Kate, in choosing that particular date, had set herself on the path to self-destruction, and I wonder whether it would have happened anyway?

Yes, I think the earthquake can be seen as allegorical.