The perfect book for smart women who sometimes do stupid things.

When I was a bookseller in San Francisco, I would write up shelf talkers for books I particularly loved. For Cathleen Schine’s third novel, Rameau’s Niece, I wrote, “The perfect book for smart women who sometimes do stupid things.” Guess what readers in San Francisco love? We ended up selling around 700 copies, and when Cathleen came to the store she signed my book like this:
We stayed in touch over the years, and I am over the moon to be working on her new novel, her 11th!, The Grammarians, about two red-headed, word-obsessed identical twins and how sometimes you may not like your family so much, but you always love them. The reviews, I’m thrilled to say, have been rapturous. From Heller McAlpin’s rave on NPR, to the COVER of the New York Times Book Review, to the Associated Press review that called The Grammarians “captivating” and said it was, “written with the tender precision and clarity of a painting by Vermeer, had that 17th-century Dutchman portrayed scenes of middle-class Jewish life in mid- to late 20th-century New York.”

A VERMEER. Can you even?

And if you didn’t read Cathleen’s “By the Book” – you must. The whole thing is brilliant, but get to the part about who she’d invite to a literary dinner party. It’s here.

Go buy The Grammarians from your local independent bookseller, of course, and let me know what you think!