Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this new book in exchange for an honest review. I had read almost a third before I finally gave up. The fact of the identical twins was expounded upon over and over and over along with the fact of their red hair. Because of the manner in which it was presented, you’d think no one else in the history of the world had ever had red hair.

The twins were fascinated with words and their etymology from an early age – this, too, was told to the reader multiple times. Their father brought home a Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary for them to use. This dictionary apparently was the basis for some sort of rift between them in their adult lives, but I never got that far in the story. However, I thought it odd since so much of the plot had to do with this particular dictionary that each chapter was introduced by a definition from Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary of the English Language. I guess that was explained later, but it was one of many elements that simply didn’t flow with the telling of this story of red headed twins.

Having grown up with 5 sets of identical twins (none of them red headed!) and having taught 2 sets, I was looking forward to a story featuring twins. Sadly this novel failed to hold my interest.

Two interesting ideas are explored in this story: the nature being similar to and different from our families (in the most extreme case, here, identical twins) and the slippery nature of language when it becomes a subject of examination, even fascination. As narrative, The Grammarians dragged a bit for me, but the characters were strong and engaging. Extra credit for The Assistant, the best character in the book.

I’ve had a very mixed experience with the author thus far. I’ve discovered her while reading her latest(prior to this) book, which was an absolutely lovely introduction, but it didn’t hold extend to her earlier work. Seems to me that she’s improved tremendously over the years and now her talent really shines when it comes to a very specific sort of subtly humorous New York stories. This is one such story about two redheaded twin sisters united and later divided by their love, no, more like ardent passion for words. Slender as this book is, it covers a lot of territory, following the twins and their families over decades, practically birth to death story, and as such it also covers NYC in all its reincarnations over the decades. The twins are very entertaining, singularly so for their idiosyncrasies and the way the very development of their individual selves mirrors their love of words or vice versa. Inseparable at first, united by so much more than a quirk of DNA, they slowly become their own persons, find their own families and eventually the very words they love pit them on the opposing sides of the spectrum with one twin becoming a strict grammarians and the other adapting a more freestyle approach to language. In the end even familial ties might not be enough to span the great linguistic divide…or maybe not. The ending, that does the omniscient narrator thing to perfection, suggest possibilities. Because love is a multifaceted thing be it love of words or people, but it seldom fails to be larger than the sum of its components. So yeah, a very enjoyable story, not laugh out loud funny, more along the lines of understated comedy, but it manages to be light without being in any way stupid, which was very nice. The author seems to do more nuances with older characters and so everyone gets more interesting as they age and in this story everyone ages quite a lot. Plus for anyone who loves words (maybe not as much as the twins, but enough) this book is a sheer joy to read. Very entertaining, fun, quick read. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.

The cover captures the feel of this book 100% This contemporary novel tells the story of twins, who as girls create their own language. When their father brings home a huge dictionary that is kept on a book stand, the girls obsession with words and language begin. Ultimately, both write and take different approaches to language later in life as the two grow apart. A quick read with a quirky cast.

The Grammarians: A Novel by [Schine, Cathleen]

I loved this book. What's not to love about a family saga wrapped up in pure word nerdery?



Review copy provided by publisher.