Dual Citizens
A novel
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3.0 • 2 Ratings
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
A Scotiabank Giller Prize Finalist
Raised in Montreal by their disinterested single mother, half-sisters Lark and Robin form a fierce team in spite of their differences. When Lark flees to America to attend college, her sister soon joins her. But even as Lark discovers a calling working in documentary film, she struggles with self-doubt, and Robin chafes against the demands of studying piano at Juilliard. Their bond strains under increasing pressure until it breaks.
Years later, Lark’s life is in tatters and Robin’s is wilder than ever. As Lark tries to take charge of her destiny, she discovers that despite the difficulties of their relationship, there is only one person she can truly rely on: her sister.
A gripping, unforgettable novel about art, ambition, sisterhood, motherhood, and self-knowledge, Dual Citizens captures the unique language of sisters and makes visible the imperceptible strings that bind us to the ones we love for good.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
This slow-burning novel tells the tale of two uncommonly gifted sisters, their complicated bond, and their meandering journey to adulthood. Growing up in Montreal with a self-involved mom, Lark and Robin stick together; when Lark moves to the States to study film in college, Robin, a teen piano prodigy, follows. The characters’ intense bond is tested by the connections they forge with other people—and then calamity strikes. Alix Ohlin’s gorgeously understated writing brings her characters to vivid, brilliant life, especially fiercely loyal and socially awkward Lark, who felt like someone we’d love to be friends with.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Ohlin's third novel (after Inside) is the engrossing, intricate tale of half-sisters Lark and Robin Brossard. In their Montreal childhood, Lark, a few years older, stands in for Robin's mother, Marianne, who is mostly absent. Creative Robin is an excellent pianist while Lark is a quiet scholar. Lark wins a scholarship to a college near Boston, and her time there is the only period she isn't tasked with being her sister's keeper until Robin appears at her doorstep during Lark's second year. Lark becomes Robin's guardian and the sisters move to New York: Lark to graduate film school as she hones her documentary filmmaking prowess and Robin to Juilliard for piano. Most of Lark's time is spent working as an assistant for a reclusive director (who becomes her lover) and worrying after Robin, who drops out of school and aimlessly wanders. Later, in her mid-30s, Lark is desperate for a child, but her director-lover already has a grown daughter. When an accident upends Lark's life, their roles reverse and Robin becomes caretaker of her sister. Ohlin smartly chooses a broad scope and expertly weaves Lark and Robin's disparate lives into a singular thread, making for an exceptional depiction of the bond between sisters.
