This novel is getting a lot of rave reviews, and I did find it thought-provoking, although perhaps not for the reasons the author intended. For St. Louis readers, there is some fun in catching the many local allusions, a kind of literary poke at the insularity that many newcomers find either comical or exasperating. I have to wonder if Sittenfeld intended local readers to see this as another layer of the novel aimed just at them, since it seems to be satirizing the kind of subtext that such markers provide in our conversations. But is it just a quick way to place a new acquaintance in context, or is it stereotyping?
I don't read a lot of contemporary "literary" fiction, especially the kind that seems particularly aimed at affluent women and teens. This story is about identical twin sisters with "senses," Violet the rebellious one who embraces her differences, and Daisy/Kate the conformist one who just wants to be normal. Their lives folllow different trajectories, yet they can never quite repudiate the bond they share.
When Vi becomes a media sensation because she has predicted a major earthquake is about to hit St. Louis, Kate is torn between embarrassment and dread that her sister's "sense" may be right. Kate, despite being portrayed as a 30-something wife and mother, is essentially immature and self-absorbed, convinced the world revolves around her, and entirely uninterested in anything outside her own little bubble.
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