When the World Was Steady: A Novel - Softcover

Messud, Claire

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0393355098 ISBN 13: 9780393355093

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 2017

Synopsis

A PEN/Faulkner Award finalist about two sisters’ divergent paths, from the author of The Burning Girl and The Emperor’s Children.

In this highly acclaimed novel, life isn’t all Emmy and Virginia Simpson anticipated. When Emmy’s marriage ends, she flees her home in Sydney to “find herself” on the island of Bali―only to become embroiled with a crew of international misfits and smugglers. Her prim and pious sister Virginia, meanwhile, has never wandered far outside of London. Struggling to find meaning, Virginia follows her aging mother’s advice to vacation on the Isle of Skye. On these two islands halfway around the world, the middle-aged sisters confront the costs of self-knowledge and their destinies with unexpected consequences.

About this title

Review:

In a debut novel of remarkable breadth and intimate insight, Claire Messud tells the story of two middle-aged sisters and the divergent life paths chosen by each. On Bali and Skye, two islands as far apart as geography allows, the sisters reassess their place in the world and gingerly find the new bearings that will allow them to renegotiate the circumstances of their lives with newfound acceptance and flexibility. Nominated for the PEN/Faulkner Award.

From the Back Cover:

In the words of Melody Simpson, their mother, Emmy was born with thick skin and Virginia with no skin at all. It is on Bali and Skye, two islands as far apart as geography allows, that the sisters independently reassess their place in the world and gingerly find the new bearings that will allow each to renegotiate the circumstances of their lives with newfound acceptance and flexibility.

About this edition

• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 0393355098
• ISBN 13: 9780393355093
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 368