Spectacular Things
by Beck Dorey-Stein
Spectacular Things follows three women across more than three decades: sisters Mia and Cricket and their mom, Liz. Ostensibly it’s about the path that leads these women to the moment where one of them has to make an impossible choice—structurally, a choice the reader knows about early on and then has to live through these women’s lives with them to know what choice she makes—but it feels much more like a family saga a la The Most Fun We Ever Had than a plot heavy novel.
This book captivated me, I think partially because the semi-omniscient POV was fascinating and partially because of the way Dorey-Stein weaved so many different thematic threads together. As the reader bears witness to the lives of these women, she walks us through so many different fraught topics—becoming a mother, ambition, sacrifice, family, and love. But I think the reason this story burrowed into my heart is because I loved these two sisters so much, and they remind me of my own daughters.
These sisters and their mom show us what it means to truly go all in on a relationship, to live as if your family is a team. Throughout the story, Mia has to learn to put herself first, and Cricket has to learn not to, and together they have to grapple with what ambition looks like for them separately and together. Both girls pay steep prices on the paths they choose—each of them believing they’re on those paths for each other, and having to learn how much of what they choose they want, too—and learn hard lessons along the way. There’s this constant heartbeat of love for each other—Cricket has some growing up to do along the way, but in the end, they’re both so genuinely happy for each other that as a parent of daughters, it’s truly beautiful to read. These sisters represent my goals as a parent—to raise girls who are independent, self-aware, and go for what they want, but who also rely on each other through all of life’s highs and lows. And this, I think, is one of the beauties of fiction. Not just giving you a window to other people’s lives (building empathy!), but also helping you to make sense of your own.
If you’ve read it, I’d love to know what you think.
Favorite quotes:
“A steady, ordinary life can be extraordinary so long as it’s centered around family and community and filled with love.” — p. 129
“Between sisters, the only thing louder than a screaming match is silence. The only thing more maddening than a fight is the lack thereof.” — p. 183
“She is coming to understand that love and loss live on the same coin. It’s never heads or tails but joy and agony, grief and delight, spinning in the air, waiting on time and luck to determine not when this chapter ends but how the next one begins.” — p. 223
“The minutes and days that add up to her life belong to her, and so it’s on her to make them count.” — p. 265
“Are you making the most of this moment? What did you have to give up to get here? How do you want to leave the field after the game?” — p. 267