Sisterland

Sisterland is a 2013 fantasy novel by American author Curtis Sittenfeld. Set in St. Louis, Missouri, it follows twin sisters Violet and Daisy Schramm, who have spirit guides that give them the power to predict the future. After a small earthquake strikes the town, Violet’s spirit guide tells her that a much more severe second quake is imminent. The twins struggle to convince the townspeople, many of whom doubt, belittle, and ostracize them for their powers. The novel explores how perceived difference affects different areas of life, including one’s sexuality, friendships, and career.

The novel begins in St. Louis. For their entire lives, the Schramm sisters have lived in the city, never more than a short drive away from each other. Daisy, who now goes by the more adult-sounding name, Kate, is married to Jeremy Tucker; they have a toddler, Rosie, and an infant, Owen. Violet, who has recently come out as bisexual, is now dating Stephanie, an IT technician. Kate has hesitated to accept Violet’s coming out, remarking that it may well just be a phase. Kate’s seemingly intolerant reaction comes from a place of anxiety: she fears that the world will be hard on her sister. After some time, she starts to accept that Violet is bisexual.

One day, a minor earthquake rumbles through St. Louis. After a slight panic, the earthquake subsides, and it is believed to be one of Mother Nature’s occasional hiccups. However, Violet’s spirit guide, Guardian, warns her that a massive earthquake will hit St. Louis on October 16. Guardian compels Violet to spread the word so that people can prepare. Knowing that she will be ostracized and ignored for going around trying to help the people of St. Louis, she does anyways. She convinces a few people to prepare for the quake.

Meanwhile, new friendships form between some of the characters that foreshadow a different kind of disaster. Jeremy and Kate spend time with Courtney Wheeling, Jeremy’s colleague at Washington University, and her husband, Hank. Because the Wheelings’ daughter Amelia is close to Kate’s daughter, Rosie, Kate and Hank start to see each other at their children’s extramural events. Courtney and Jeremy also start to spend more time together at work.

When Violet tells the local media outlets about her premonition, it triggers a cascade of publicity, culminating with her appearance on the Today show. Kate resents the unwanted attention her sister has brought to their family and community, but sympathizes with Violet, having repressed her own urges to share her own gifts with the world. Just a few years before, the sisters had worked together to track down a missing boy, Brady Ogden, who was presumed dead after three months of search efforts made no progress in finding him. They found Brady just before Kate’s wedding date. Violet’s premonition about October 16 becomes impossible for Kate to ignore when she gets her own premonition that something significant will happen on the same date.

In the days before October 16, Kate and Jeremy fight over Jeremy’s decision to attend a conference that weekend instead of staying with his family. Revealing his doubts about Kate’s vision, Jeremy leaves for the conference. On the night of the 16th, Hank joins Kate in lieu of Jeremy. Though the earthquake does not happen, the two begin an affair, in some sense fulfilling the premonition that something life-changing would occur. The novel ends early the following year when the earthquake the twins foresaw occurs in Haiti. High-magnitude earthquakes also strike Japan, Chile, China, Turkey, and Indonesia. Thanks to the twins’ earthquake safety advocacy, some of the loss of life is mitigated. Sisterland closes with the suggestion that both romantic and seismic events are ultimately unpredictable forces of nature.