Fanny and Sue: A Novel

by Karen Stolz

Overview

Now available in paperback--from the author of World of Pies comes a charming portrait of the American heartland as told through the intertwined lives of twin sisters.

When Karen Stolz's World of Pies was published two years ago, readers and critics alike savored every delicious word. Now Stolz returns to themes of childhood and coming of age in a poignant novel about twin sisters.

In beautifully rendered detail, Stolz reveals the pleasure of freshly laundered dresses and homemade fudge, the terror of childhood illness and quarrels, and the magical connection that only twins possess.

Set against the backdrop of St. Louis during the Great Depression, twins Fanny and Sue tell their charming story in alternating voices. Infused with humor and warmth, Stolz's latest novel is certain to charm readers eager to experience life the way it used to be.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780786886050
Publisher:	Hachette Books
Publication date:	03/17/2004
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	244
Product dimensions:	5.19(w) x 8.00(h) x (d)
Age Range:	13 - 18 Years

About the Author

Karen Stolz's first novel, World of Pies, was a Booksense Selection. Stolz is a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop and was awarded a 1999 Fiction Fellowship from the Austin Writers' League/Texas Commission on the Arts. Born in St. Louis and raised in Kansas, she lives in Austin, Texas, with her son.

Reading Group Guide

1. What are the best things about being an identical twin, as depicted in the novel? What are the hardest things about it? 2. What pivotal event makes Sue more confident and emboldened, able to stand up to Fanny? Why does this event affect her in this way? 3. What role do the “picture shows” play in the family’s lives? How does this reflect the 4. How would you describe Jack and Jeanette’s (Mom and Pop’s) parenting style? How is it different from modern parenting? 5. If you have read WORLD OF PIES, how is the Logan family similar to the Milner family? What is Stolz saying about family life that was true in the 1920s-30s that was also true in the 1960s-90s? 6. Do you have a family member who experienced scarlet fever or polio? Have they told stories similar to those in the novel? What effects linger, emotionally and physically? 7. Fanny and Sue have different dating styles. What character traits do their choices reflect/reveal? 8. What were the sweetest moments of the book for you? The most harrowing? 9. If you could go back in time, which twin would you rather spend a day with? Why? What would you do together?

Editorial Reviews

"Kiss, kiss, kiss, it was a new year, with new hopes and dreams and fudge too," chirps one of the child narrators of Stolz's second novel (after World of Pies), an affectionate portrait of Depression-era Midwestern life marred by sticky-sweet sentimentality. Identical twin sisters, for whom the novel is named, take turns narrating chapters that span their school years in St. Louis with their warm, spirited parents and little brother, Baby Bob. Their world is full of hobos, streetcars, soda fountains and the terror of polio, but there isn't much depth behind these well-drawn set pieces. The major events of the novel-Fanny burns her arm on the stove; their mother miscarries; the girls assume each other's identities in pursuit of the same boy; Sue's boyfriend moves to Chicago; their uncle loses his job and his home-are generally resolved within a chapter or two, and there are few lasting repercussions or character transformations. The relentlessly cheerful tone makes Sue's recovery from scarlet fever seem no more significant than Fanny's victory at a roller-skating marathon. Stolz's effort to render the inner world of children and teenagers relies primarily on using limited vocabulary and scores of exclamation points to express constant enthusiasm. While the prose style does evoke a child's voice ("I couldn't stop crying. Rosalyn died.... Why would this happen? I did not want to know something like this could happen.... It was hard for me to understand why children would ever die"), it allows for few psychological insights. Die-hard nostalgics may get a kick out of this syrupy frolic, but those looking for emotional range should steer clear. (Mar.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

Twins grow up during the Depression in a nostalgic slice of St. Louis life, the second homespun tale from Stolz (World of Pies, 2000). In alternate voices, identical twins Fanny and Sue tell about their childhood, from the simple joy of hiding a penny in your pocket to the serious offense of storing old candy wrappers under the bed (later to be made into a Christmas necklace for Mom.) When the girls start school, (Sue shy, Fanny a gas) they of course finish each other's sentences, work on the same drawing, and unite in general against the foreign world of kindergarten. Over time, individuality creeps in-naughty Fanny has an accident popping popcorn that leaves a purple scar on her arm. Later, Sue is hospitalized for six weeks with scarlet fever, giving her a chance to experience life out from under Fanny's thumb. When the Depression comes, Aunt Millie and Uncle Donald, with their two children, move into the house, and the two families struggle to make the best of their sparse resources. First boyfriends come, as do first jobs (Sue a soda jerk, Fanny a seamstress), and the two begin to nourish dreams of the future. Smart Sue is going to be a teacher, and Fanny is saving up for a train ride to Hollywood and stardom. The highlight of their teenage lives is when they become models for the early Doublemint ads, even appearing on a billboard. But this is pretty tame stuff for the breadth of a novel. The best fiction narrated by children maintains a fine balance between innocence and sophistication. Regrettably, the world of Fanny and Sue is a rather simple one, and, intentionally or not, Stolz conveys the notion that a child's life is a fairly mundane experience-the high points involving sweetsand the lows a mild punishment, leaving little room for a more considered reflections of life. Certainly not without its Saturday Evening Post charms, but this one lacks the complexity to bring it alive. Agent: Gail Hochman/Hochman & Brandt

Kirkus Reviews