Cleopatra's Sister: A Novel [Hardcover]

Penelope Lively (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1993

Forced to land in Callimbia during a flight to Nairobi, paleontologist Howard Beamish and another passenger, journalist Lucy Faulkner, find themselves held hostage by the country's new ruler. 17,500 first printing. $15,000 ad/promo. Tour.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Surely this authoritatively controlled, highly accomplished novel, British author Lively's 10th (her Moon Tiger won the Booker), will increase her audience of discriminating readers here. Written with grace and clarity, and luminous with insights about the human condition, it is as timely as the evening news and as eternal as the most classic love story. Lively's subtext, the "strange conjunction of likelihood and contingency" that determines one's life, is convincing; she orchestrates a fateful mix of chance encounters, determined by character as well as coincidence. In alternating chapters, she depicts the lives of paleontologist Howard Beamish and crusading journalist Lucy Faulkner, both successful in their careers but unfulfilled because they have not established enduring relationships. They meet when the plane they are taking to Cairo makes a forced landing in Callimbia, a fictional country in the throes of a bloody revolution led by a lunatic dictator. Lively's witty, ironic construction of Callimbia's history ranges from its establishment by Cleopatra's sister Berenice through the rise of the "moral renegade" who orders the plane's British passengers taken hostage. Through the eyes of Howard and Lucy, and in counterpoint to their growing love for each other, Lively depicts the passengers' responses to their plight: from annoyance to growing unease and to terror, as their captors grow more hostile and threatening and the situation turns more bizarre. Lively keeps the narrative deliberately low key while escalating the tension, which culminates when one of the group is singled out to be executed. Against all the conventions of contemporary fiction, Lucy and Howard's mature romance is fresh and convincing--though entirely without scenes of sexual union--and the wonder of love is made all the more clear in contrast to the precarious nature of human existence.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Howard Beamish, hero of Booker Award winner Lively's ingratiating new work, becomes a paleontologist because he is fascinated by the "strange conjunction of likelihood and contingency which is the root of life. " Heroine Lucy, determined to avoid her mother's dreary fate, works hard to become a journalist--but she gets her first important job after she runs into a friend after falling off a bus. Eventually, Lucy lands an assignment in Nairobi, where Howard is also heading, having run across a friend who tells him that the museum there has some choice finds. When the plane carrying both Howard and Lucy makes an emergency landing in Callimbia--an imaginary African country supposedly founded by Cleopatra's sister--the passengers are held hostage by Callimbia's maniacal leader. The crisis is fortunate in one respect: Howard and Lucy meet and fall in love. Perhaps the capriciousness of fate is made too obvious, but Lively handles her story with skill, grace, and invigorating charm; with an economy of words, the terror of the hostages is made palpable. Highly recommended. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 12/92.
- Barbara Hoffert, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 281 pages
• Publisher: Harpercollins; 1st edition (April 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060166673
• ISBN-13: 978-1568950396
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #808,625 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Accident That Determines Fate, August 7, 2004

By 

prisrob "pris," (New England USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Cleopatra's Sister (Paperback)

"Howard Beamish becomes a paleontologist because he is fascinated by the "strange conjunction of likelihood and contingency" that determines one's life" In this book,
"Cleopatra's Sister", author, Penelope Lively initiates a mix of chance encounters, determined by character as well as coincidence. For those of us who believe that there is a reason for everything that may happen, this book gives us pause.

Howard Beamish decided at the early age of 6 when he picked up an ammonite on Blue Anchor Beach that things were not always what they seemed. When he asked what is was he was told a stone. Howard knew it was not a stone and told his father so. This was the kind of boy Howard was and the kind
of man he grew into. He liked orderliness, symmetries, and classification. He wanted language to be technical, complex and innovative. He would rather read than socialize.
He became a lecturer at Tavistock College. He had relationships that did not last. He enjoyed sex very much but he found he did not have much affection for the woman, and he didn't feel it was fair to carry on with that kind of attitude.

Lucy Faulkner, on the other hand, knew at the age of fifteen that she would not follow in her mother's footsteps. Her mother was unable to tell the children their father was gone because she didn't realize it herself until Lucy told her sister that her father would not becoming back. Lucy in a sense became the mother of the family. She made sure her brother and sister had the right education for them. Lucy became a journalist. She fell off a bus and ran into a friend who happened to tell her of a job opening at a paper. Again a chance encounter and coincidence. Lucy, however, knew that she deserved the job and she became quite famous and well read. Lucy was unable to tolerate most men for very long. She loved sex but was unable to fall in love.

Both Howard and Lucy find themselves on the same plane on their way to Nairobi. The plane has engine trouble and is diverted to a small island, Callimbia. All of the British passengers are kept hostage by a very strange dictator. Howard and Lucy find themselves falling in love in the most unusual circumstances. One of them is placed in a precarious position. Another one of Penelope Lively's simple statements- love can be found and taken away.

This novel is fast paced and lively. The lives of the two principle characters are so rich and full. We love them both- we want happiness for them. Why must these strange situations that replicate life be so annoying? The trauma of the daily life that accosts them may change them forever. Another one of Penelope Lively's wonderful books. She has such a polished style and awesome control with her words. My favorite author.
prisrob

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Absorbing, May 10, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Cleopatra's Sister (Audio Cassette)

This book has sat on my bookshelf for about 2 years, and when I was about to embark on a short plane trip and needed a packable book, knew I could depend on Penelope Lively for an entertaining several hours, and I was right. Loved the 2 main characters, Howard and Lucy and the evolution of the island. The author did a great job of following their histories, and putting them together under rather strange circumstances. There were many phrases and paragraphs that I would like to underline and remember that are applicable to life in general. I had just read HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG and was so afraid that would be a hard act to follow. I was very happy with my choice.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Did you like Moon Tiger? If so, read this one, March 28, 2004

By 

Peggy Vincent "author and reader" (Oakland, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cleopatra's Sister: A Novel (Hardcover)

Winner of the 1987 Booker for Moon Tiger, British author Penelope Lively rocks. In Cleopatra's Sister, she introduced us to two people who meet when their plane makes a forced landing in the fictitious country of Callimbia in No. Africa. Fear and terror in hostile surroundings up the odds for our lovers, Howard and Lucy, as well as for the other passengers, and the story soon becomes a delicious Third World satire. Howard is a paleontologist; Lucy is a journalist. But neither finds their training of much help when they find themselves being held hostage by Callimbia's maniacal leader.
Highly recommended, esp if you like Lively's other stuff.