Twister
by Genanne Walsh
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Pub Date Dec 01 2015 | Archive Date Nov 23 2015
Description
By turns terrifying and humorous, clear-eyed and deep-hearted, Twister brings us into the center of a storm as a small Midwestern town mourns the death of a young soldier. Rose, the soldier’s fiercely independent mother, may or may not be losing her grip on reality, and we seek answers along with the constellation of family, friends, neighbors, and townspeople whose lives intertwine with hers. Each new viewpoint calls up singular memories and intrigue, raising stakes while the twister gathers force. As the storm drives into the heart of town secrets are illuminated, pasts are resurrected, and lives are shaken to the core. An unforgettable debut from a keen observer and chronicler of nature, people, and the ineffable.
Advance Praise
"Genanne Walsh's Twister is a chronicle of a small town amid the calm before the storm—but so much more. This book digs beneath the surface of place to create a kind of Spoon River Anthology for our time replete with secrets, truths, startling reckonings—and very, very threatening weather. As fine a new novel as you will read this year."—Peter Orner, author of Last Car Over the Sagamore Bridge
"You will have to read this novel for yourself to see how a brilliant writer has found the perfect form for evoking the effects of time and place and the forces of history and nature on the lives of human beings. As the title suggests, the movement of Twister is as inexorable as it is unpredictable. Genanne Walsh is a writer of extraordinary powers. The work of this novel is both raw and lush with poetry. Her characters live and breathe, and in their intersections, real truths are revealed."—Laura Kasischke, author of Mind of Winter and Eden Springs
"Genanne Walsh’s Twister is a gripping page-turner, but also has that much rarer quality of transcendent, almost preternatural empathy that very few works of fiction possess. Twister has it. Novels often get us to walk in someone else’s shoes, but only rarely to climb into someone else’s skin. Walsh miraculously climbs into the skin of not just one, but a dozen characters. When I finished Twister, I felt the way the Old Man in the novel felt about being struck by lightning: 'It furrowed me into something new.”—Robert Thomas, author of Bridge
Available Editions
| EDITION | Paperback |
| ISBN | 9781625579379 |
| PRICE | $19.95 (USD) |
Average rating from 3 members
Featured Reviews
Craig A, Reviewer
TREMENDOUS BOOK!!!! Believe all the hype. Walsh's characters took over my life for the past 2 days and I loved this book, the writing style, pacing, everything. I was so sad when it ended, but thankful I got to experience it. Can't wait to recommend this to all my fellow book nerds! :)
Lori Lutes (, Reviewer
Twister by Genanne Walsh is a highly recommended story of turbulence in a small town. There is an actual tornado in the story, but the real storm is in the interpersonal relationships.
It feels like a storm is coming to a small Midwestern town that has fallen on hard times economically. All the residents can feel the change in the air and comment on it, even as the weather announcer on the radio forecasts the warnings. Walsh slowly introduces the residents of this town, revealing their inner thoughts, secrets, and longings. The town is a cyclone of unresolved issues and ongoing grievances.
A mother, Rose, is beside herself with grief as she mourns the death of her soldier son, Lance. Stella is Rose's estranged stepsister. What caused the rife between the two when they once were so close is not revealed until later in the novel. Walsh continues to introduce us to Rose's neighbors (the old man, Perry, Nina, Sill), Ward (Stella's husband), Louise (a local bank teller), and Scottie (the current owner of the shoe store), all while allowing the foreboding tension to slowly rise and build. You know things have happened in the past. You know something is going to happen - between individuals and with the approaching the storm.
Walsh does an excellent job capturing the complex emotions and interpersonal connections between the residents while allowing the reader insight into their thoughts. The beauty of allowing us to get an insider's view into each character makes them more human and complex individuals. My one qualm was with the pacing. It seemed to move too slowly and the big insights into the characters really don't come until later in the novel. Additionally, once the twister hit, we heard nothing more about it for pages while Walsh shares additional backstory. At times this slow, steady pace seemed detrimental to the plot. On the other hand it, did evoke the slower, measured routine of life in a small town, where daily routines and secrets are known about almost everyone.
Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy of Black Lawrence Press for review purposes.
http://shetreadssoftly.blogspot.com/2015/11/twister.html
Readers who liked this book also liked:
Jodi Picoult; Jennifer Finney Boylan
General Fiction (Adult), Literary Fiction, Women's Fiction
