A Tale of Two Sisters
by Anna Maxted
List Price: $24.95
Pages: 368
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 0525949739
Publisher: Dutton Adult
Lizbet and Cassie are sisters and, though as different as two women can be from each other, best friends as well.
Cassie is skinny, clever, charismatic, successful—every not-so-perfect girl's worst nightmare. The one defect in her quality-controlled life may be her marriage.
Lizbet is plumper, plainer, dreamier—more concerned about the design on her coffee cup than whether she can afford her new house. She's desperate to make her name as a journalist, but is stuck writing embarrassing articles on sex for a boy's magazine. Her one achievement is her relationship with Tim, who thinks she's amusing and smart-even when she asks ditzy questions.
Despite Cassie being the favored child, she and Lizbet have managed to stay friends. Perhaps because—as Cassie says—they've always wanted different things. But that's about to change. Confronted by challenges that they never asked for, enticed by new loves, and forced apart by mistakes not their own, Cassie and Lizbet struggle to figure out how to get back to the simple goodness of their sisterhood, as their lives take them on a collision course of heartache and new beginnings.
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1.In the opening pages of A Tale of Two Sisters, Anna Maxted immediately establishes Cassie and Lizbet’s distinct personalities via their letters. How are Cassie and Lizbet different?
2.How does irony contribute to A Tale of Two Sisters?
3.Each chapter ends with an unexpected twist. Were you surprised by the first chapter’s ending?
4.What are Lizbet’s reasons for being so adamantly opposed to having a baby? Do you sympathize with Lizbet?
5.From Lizbet’s perspective, what happens to women who become mothers? Do you think there is any truth to her opinion?
6. A Tale of Two Sisters alternates between two points of view; Lizbet’s and Cassies’s. How does this structure contribute to the novel? Did you find both sisters’ points of view equally compelling or did you favor one sister’s point of view?
7.“You have a kid, you become a parent: You put your babies first,” Cassie says. Do you agree that children should always come first?
8.Describe Tim and George. What do you think of them?
9.Cassie has a secret. Were you surprised when you discovered it? Did it shed light on Cassie and Lizbet’s relationship?
10.Does Cassie and Lizbet’s relationship seem typical of the relationship between sisters?
11.What do you think of George’s response to Cassie’s secret?
12.After learning about Cassie’s secret, do you have a better understanding of her feelings for Lizbet?
13.How does Lizbet’s relationship with her mother change over the course of the novel?
14.Do you think Cassie and Lizbet’s professions shed light on their personalities? If so, how?
15.“Elizabeth,” Aunt Edith says, “We all go through hardship in life. Where would we be if we buckled under the first time things didn’t go our way. Young people today have no idea what it used to be like.” Do you agree with Aunt Edith that “young people have no idea what it used to be like?”
16.Do you agree with Lizbet when she says, “Treat your kids with respect, but there has to be some understanding that the parent has the final say”?
17.Does George’s parents’ reaction to his behavior at the end of the novel come as a surprise?
18.Cassie asserts at the end of the novel that “being a parent forces you to consider the imperfections of the planet. But it also forces you to note your own lapses as a human being,” Do you agree?
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“With good humor [and] genuine emotion…Maxted amiably delivers.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“With her winning combination of honesty and warmth,
Maxted has ensured herself another triumph.”
—Glamour (UK)
“Anna Maxted applies her usual intelligent, witty approach, making you laugh and cry in equal measure. Anyone who’s had a sister, or ever wanted to scream with frustration about family life, will recognise themselves in this page-turner.”
—Heat (UK)
“This is a hilarious funny tale which also manages to be wonderfully touching in places, too.”
—OK! (UK)
“Anna Maxted has always succeeded in writing thoughtfully on assorted knotty issues
without ever losing her sense of humour.’”
—Daily Mail (UK)
“Get ready to giggle.”
—More (UK)
“An engaging tale of sibling rivalry.”
—First (UK)
