You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
???; a bit of Rebecca and wlw vibes but I feel no ways towards this one - I guess it was okay???
This short and spare novel describes—from the point of view of the wife—a marriage. From their meeting, to marrying, to her helping raise his two teenagers, through the marriage of the daughter. His first wife, called "she" or "your mom" throughout, is always there in the background. There for the kids, there getting alimony payments, at family events--and the inauspicious start to the marriage foreshadows the end.
This novel very much reminds me of Fever Dream, even though the stories and themes themselves are very different.
————
Read this at the library while my car was in for a construction staple in the sidewall and a regular service. I had no book and no charger on me, but this was perfect, I didn't even need to check it out.
This novel very much reminds me of Fever Dream, even though the stories and themes themselves are very different.
————
Read this at the library while my car was in for a construction staple in the sidewall and a regular service. I had no book and no charger on me, but this was perfect, I didn't even need to check it out.
I'm not sure what drew me to this book. On first appearances, the book looked utterly uninteresting on the bookshelf. I'm glad I picked up and read the first page despite that. It was surprisingly good.
I really appreciated Lily Tuck's prose. It was effortlessly beautiful in its simplicity. The format of the book was new to me. Instead of chapters, the book was divided into snippets mostly lasting only one page. It flowed really well and, I felt, realistically portrayed passing thoughts and recollections. I felt like I knew the main character even though I don't know her name and though she might not have said much.
I really appreciated Lily Tuck's prose. It was effortlessly beautiful in its simplicity. The format of the book was new to me. Instead of chapters, the book was divided into snippets mostly lasting only one page. It flowed really well and, I felt, realistically portrayed passing thoughts and recollections. I felt like I knew the main character even though I don't know her name and though she might not have said much.
This is a very short, quick read about a woman who is obsessed with her husband's ex-wife. She is the second wife and reveals her story throughout the 154 pages. We never learn the first wife's name. She is simply referred to as "she" in italics.
This book is super short (I finished it in one sitting), but does a great job of giving off the creepy vibes of an obsessive person. It's not a thriller, though.
Overall, I'd say this book is good for someone who is looking for an odd, creepy, and fast read. Personally, I wish the story was longer and I was left wanting more. Thus I gave it a 3/5 🌟
This book is super short (I finished it in one sitting), but does a great job of giving off the creepy vibes of an obsessive person. It's not a thriller, though.
Overall, I'd say this book is good for someone who is looking for an odd, creepy, and fast read. Personally, I wish the story was longer and I was left wanting more. Thus I gave it a 3/5 🌟
It barely took me an hour to read "Sisters", Lily Tuck's latest novel (novella? short story?). Written in brief paragraphs, smoothly flowing in an almost stream-of-consciousness style, it makes for an entertaining and deceptively easy read. In reality, in this book there is so much that is subtly suggested and cunningly implied, that it packs in its few pages the effect of a novel thrice its length.
The unnamed narrator's marriage is haunted by the presence of her new husband's first wife - ominously referred to throughout as she - whom he divorced to marry the narrator. After some initial awkwardness, the narrator manages to maintain a decent relationship with her husband's son and daughter and, to a lesser extent, also with she/her. But we soon learn that beneath the genteel veneer, there is a lurking obsession, an all-consuming jealousy.
The bare bones of the plot will inevitably draw comparisons with Du Maurier's [b:Rebecca|17899948|Rebecca|Daphne du Maurier|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1386605169s/17899948.jpg|46663], as both the author and her erudite narrator are very much aware. Indeed, there are knowing references to Du Maurier's novel which are quickly turned on their head ("I dreamed - not that I went back to Manderley - that I was in a big city..."). Similarly, that novel's dark, Gothic atmosphere is here replaced by a different sort of darkness - the darkness of black humour and biting satire, as we witness the making and unmaking of a contemporary marriage. Brilliant, witty stuff; sparkling like the champagne which propels the book to its denouement.
An electronic version of this novel was provided through NetGalley in return for an honest review.
The unnamed narrator's marriage is haunted by the presence of her new husband's first wife - ominously referred to throughout as she - whom he divorced to marry the narrator. After some initial awkwardness, the narrator manages to maintain a decent relationship with her husband's son and daughter and, to a lesser extent, also with she/her. But we soon learn that beneath the genteel veneer, there is a lurking obsession, an all-consuming jealousy.
The bare bones of the plot will inevitably draw comparisons with Du Maurier's [b:Rebecca|17899948|Rebecca|Daphne du Maurier|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1386605169s/17899948.jpg|46663], as both the author and her erudite narrator are very much aware. Indeed, there are knowing references to Du Maurier's novel which are quickly turned on their head ("I dreamed - not that I went back to Manderley - that I was in a big city..."). Similarly, that novel's dark, Gothic atmosphere is here replaced by a different sort of darkness - the darkness of black humour and biting satire, as we witness the making and unmaking of a contemporary marriage. Brilliant, witty stuff; sparkling like the champagne which propels the book to its denouement.
An electronic version of this novel was provided through NetGalley in return for an honest review.
Got this one thinking it would be a thriller.....I was wrong lol
This was interesting. I was enthralled, but ultimately it just wasn’t my cup of tea, as much as I want to have stuff in common with President Obama. I was really turned off by the narrator’s fixation on her husband’s ex, while at the same time identifying with her urges. The ending sealed the three stars for me.
funny
fast-paced
It’s curious to think about the strange bond that we share with our romantic partner’s exes. Nobody else knows our partner so intimately in their habits, strengths, faults, secrets and sexual proclivities. Yet these exes typically remain people entirely unknown to us in reality (unless our partners happen to still see them frequently). So it’s fascinating how Lily Tuck writes about this unique bond in her new novel “Sisters” where the unnamed narrator describes her preoccupation with her husband’s ex-wife. Although they barely ever encounter each other in real life this ex-wife’s presence is felt everywhere from the memories her husband maintains to the teenage step children in the house. She feels oddly bound to the ex-wife like a sister, but her feelings are largely antagonistic and competitive. Tuck writes about the narrator’s obsession with this ex-wife in deft, sharp prose which allude to her complicated emotions rather than spelling them out. This is powerfully effective and the fast-paced story works up to a gripping climax.
Read my full review of Sisters by Lily Tuck on LonesomeReader
Read my full review of Sisters by Lily Tuck on LonesomeReader