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31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Amusing sendup of New England values and the literary life., October 13, 2003
From the opening paragraph, a woman's description of being struck by lightning, the reader of this book learns to expect the unexpected-and gets it. Dorcas Mather, the narrator, is a librarian in Frome, Rhode Island, who quietly catalogues books while a hurricane bears down on the town. Fortified with some scotch she has brought for the occasion, she is bent on cataloguing one particular book, her own personal "hurricane"--entitled In the Driver's Seat: The Abigail Mather Story by her twin sister, Abigail Mather, and a ghostwriter, Hilda DeVilbiss. With delightful mockery of the book publishing process, Dorcas reveals that this book is making her sister into a national heroine for not only surviving her "marital horror" but for doing something about it. Exaggerated, over-the-top paragraphs from the novel written by Abigail and Hilda alternate with Dorcas's iconoclastic and sometimes cynical tales about the real Abigail, as the dual history of the Mather sisters unfolds. Because the narrative moves back and forth between the events as told in Abigail's book and Dorcas's much later reflections on these events, the plot is not linear. The reader learns in the first twenty-five pages that Abigail has committed a "savage act of assertive self-realization," otherwise known as murder, but it is the circumstances which led to the murder and the divergent views and lifestyles of Abigail and Dorcas which provide the interest and intrigue for the reader. As Dorcas tells us, "Abigail and I divided up the world. Sacred and profane. Spiritual and physical. Mind and body." Abigail, sexually liberated since the age of 14, is, according to Dorcas, an "amoral exhibitionist." Dorcas, by contrast, "knows what it feels like...to experience desire," but she has rejected it completely, finding love-making "ridiculous." The novel is a light, breezy, and often satiric send-up of New England values, the literary life, family interdependencies, our pre-occupation with "self-image," and the cruelties we humans perpetrate upon each other. Firmly rooting the novel in its Rhode Island setting, with its storms, hurricanes, and blizzards racing up the Atlantic coast, author Jincy Willett recreates the tumults and storms of her characters' daily lives, leavening the action with humor at the same time that her characters both create and meet their own disasters. Uncomplicated in its plot and simple in themes, the novel chooses to amuse and entertain rather than provide new insights for the reader. It is a lively look at two peculiar sisters, whose opposing views of life and conflicting values may not seem so peculiar in the end. Mary Whipple
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18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Witty Novel with a Cheeky Title, November 7, 2003
It is unlikely that Winner of the National Book Award will actually be a winner of the national book award but this fine, funny novel by Jincy Willett earns its cheeky title. It smoothly satirizes the type of novels that Oprah was once famous for selecting for her book club. Not bad books in themselves but of a type. The author of this book plays with that type in this story of twin sisters, one earthy ... and one cerebral ... and an abusive man who enters their lives. There will be abuse and there will be revenge but mostly there is humour, particularly in the voice of the narrator, the purer sister. It is a delightful read.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Rhode Island explained, December 4, 2003
This is the story of the twin sisters Abigail and Dorcas Maher. They were born on the last day of 1938 and are, by now, in their forties. They live in Frome, Rhode Island, a state devastated by the sharp comments in this book. Dorcas is the town librarian and has the prunish character to go with it. Abigail was defiled at the age of 14 by the local football team and apparently enjoyed it. Hilda, a family friend, catalogs in a book all the terrible things that have come to Abigail's mind over the years and that have been executed by her and on her. At present, Abigail is in jail accused of killing her husband, while Dorcas reads through the biography. Her comments and corrections are the subject of this book. The two sisters loved each other dearly despite their opposite makeup. Sexless Dorcas never envied Abigail and her loose life style. She called her sister the Wife of Bath, with great power and no dignity. She herself would be the reverse. And then the devil in the disguise of suave Conrad Lowe enters the picture. He tries to seduce Dorcas but settles for the easier Abigail. And here comes the Faustian pact: Abigail must shed all the gross excess weight she carries around or Conrad will dissolve out of her life. Strangely enough, and for the first time in her life, she gives up, submits meekly and looses the required weight. But Conrad does not feel that the pact has been satisfied. He keeps maltraiting Abigail who cracks and kills him. The story is beautifully told, in full three dimensions and surprise happenings. It is not the belly laugh some commercial reviews promise, but it is full of wonderful little chuckles.. Foremost, it is an absorbing portrait of two women who seem so very strange and yet are so familiar.
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