The Grammarians: A Novel

An Amazon Best Book of September 2019: Light-as-air but free of fluff, this funny, moving book plunges the reader into the life of identical twins Laurel and Daphne, “two names for the same minor Greek goddess.” From an early age, the parents are bewildered by their closeness and word play, which the sisters turn like a double-barreled shotgun on their psychiatrist uncle who finds them altogether unnerving: “’We revolt you.’ Laurel said, running past him. ‘We are revolting,’ Daphne said. ‘Against you,’ she added.” The first half of the book, when Laurel and Daphne are always together, is just plain fun. The second half reminds you that the real pleasure here is the author’s heartfelt but unsentimental portrayal of how relationships change over time: the interior experience of growing apart from the person you love best, how a mother can go from an amiable stranger to a friend. The sibling rivalry between the girls' father and his brother is also spot-on and affecting. While the novel ends just as you’re in full thrall to the characters, this lithe slip of a story is too complete a pocket universe to regret it’s not longer. --Katy Ball Named one of the best books of 2019 by Vanity Fair and a Kirkus Reviews' Best Fiction of 2019 selection "Schine's warmth and wisdom about how families work and don't work are as reliable as her wry humor, and we often get both together . . . This impossibly endearing and clever novel sets off a depth charge of emotion and meaning." ― Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "Schine's sparkling latest [is] both a fizzy exploration of the difficulties of separating from one's closest ally and a quirky meditation on the limits of language for understanding the world." ― Publishers Weekly "Captivating . . . written with the tender precision and clarity of a painting by Vermeer . . . [a] wry and elegant novel." ―Ann Levin, Associated Press "A delightful new novel . . . Schine takes her readers on deep philosophical dives but resurfaces with craft and humor; her tone is amused and amusing." ―Susan Dominus, The New York Times Book Review “The mother of the beguilingly unusual twins whose lives unfold in this sublime comic novel could not adore them more than I do. A singular delight for anyone who has ever marveled at the quirks and beauties and frustrations of English grammar, and a fascinating portrait of the passions and dramas of fierce familial love.” ― Sigrid Nunez , National Book Award–winning author of The Friend "This tale of twins who "elbow each other out of the way in the giant womb of the world" is smart, buoyant and bookish ― in the best sense of the word." ―Heller McAlpin, NPR "Cathleen Schine’s new novel, The Grammarians , is a rich study of the factions that attempt to define how language should be used."―Lauren Leibowitz, The New Yorker "Cathleen Schine’s marvelous new novel is a book besotted with words . . . But you don’t need to be a writer or editor to fall under Schine’s spell. The Grammarians is about family, the ebb and flow of our deep and tenuous connections to the people who make us who we are." ―Connie Ogle, Star Tribune “One might well expect a novel about dictionary-obsessed identical twins to throw off one clever, coruscating observation or bit of wordplay after another, like a kind of literary Catherine wheel. And The Grammarians certainly does that, and does it wonderfully well. Yet as I read on I found myself not only fascinated and amused―because, I must underline, it’s often hugely funny―but deeply moved, because this is also a novel of great and often aching feeling.” ― Benjamin Dreyer , New York Times –bestselling author of Dreyer’s English "Schine’s latest page-turning charmer is a warm, witty, and weird ode to sisterhood and language."― Entertainment Weekly “This is an utterly charming book, and yet more than that. It is a book of real people and their relationship―both to language and to each other. Fresh as a white sheet of paper, it is clean and lovely; an absolutely delightful read.” ― Elizabeth Strout , Pulitzer Prize–winning author Cathleen Schine is the author of The Grammarians , The Three Weissmanns of Westport , and The Love Letter , among other novels. She has contributed to the New Yorker , the New York Review of Books , the New York Times Magazine , and the New York Times Book Review . She lives in Los Angeles. Read more