Lancaster - Twisted Sisters

Questions for Discussion

1. Twisted Sisters deals with the ways that sibling rivalry can affect our behavior as adults. In what ways have your relationships with siblings changed from when you grew up? In what ways are they the same?

2. How might Reagan Bishop have been different had she not been consumed with sibling rivalry?

3. Why is the bulk of Reagans ire directed at Geri, instead of being split equally between Geri and Mary Mac?

4. In what ways are Geri, Mary Mac, and Reagan similar? And how are they different? To whom did you relate more, and did this change from the beginning of the book to the end?

5. At what point did you realize that all was not right in the perfect little world Reagan tried to present to others?

6. Unlike other heroines in Jen Lancasters fiction, Reagan is a character who is imploding. In what ways is this different from the explosive nature of Lissy Ryder in Here I Go Again or Mia MacNamara in If You Were Here?

7. What are Reagans greatest strengths and weaknesses as a mental health professional?

8. How does Reagans orthorexic behavior demonstrate her worldview?

9. Do you agree or disagree with Reagans methods in exacting change via body swap? Why or why not?

10. Twisted Sisters is an homage to films such as Freaky Friday. What other tributes or nods to pop culture can you find?

11. Does Reagan Bishop use her intellect to bully people? In what ways does she use her intelligence as a shield?>

12. If you could swap places with anyone, who would you pick and why?

13. At what point in the story do you believe Reagan begins to grasp the consequences of her actions?

14. How does Reagans former relationship with Boyd influence her ideas about potential boyfriends?

15. In what ways are Deva and Reagan different? How are they similar? How would this tale unfold if told from Devas perspective?

16. What does Reagans happily ever after look like in five years? How about Geris and Mary Macs? How do these happily ever afters compare to your own?

17. What kind of adventure do you think Deva should have next?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jen Lancaster is the New York Times bestselling author of ten books. She has appeared on Today , The Joy Behar Show , and NPRs All Things Considered . She resides in the suburbs of Chicago with her husband and their ever-expanding menagerie of ill-behaved pets.

CONNECT ONLINE

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Bitch be crazy is an acceptable answer.

Other Titles by New York Times Bestselling Author Jen Lancaster

Bitter Is the New Black

Bright Lights, Big Ass

Such a Pretty Fat

Pretty in Plaid

My Fair Lazy

If You Were Here

Jeneration X

Here I Go Again

The Tao of Martha

New American Library

Published by the Penguin Group

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A Penguin Random House Company

First published by New American Library,

a division of Penguin Group (USA) LLC

Copyright Jen Lancaster, 2014

Penguin supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin to continue to publish books for every reader.

REGISTERED TRADEMARKMARCA REGISTRADA

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA:

Lancaster, Jen, 1967

Twisted sisters/Jen Lancaster.

p. cm.

ISBN 978-1-101-63961-0

1. SistersFiction. 2. FamiliesFiction. 3. SuccessFiction. I. Title.

PS3612.A54748T95 2014

813'.6dc23 2013033481

PUBLISHERS NOTE

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Version_2

For JSS and JPK, my sisters by choice

I dont believe an accident of birth makes people sisters or brothers. It makes them siblings, gives them mutuality of parentage. Sisterhood and brotherhood is a condition people have to work at.

Maya Angelou

Big sisters are the crabgrass in the lawn of life.

Charles M. Schulz

Me and my sisters all have such different body types.

Kim Kardashian

Prologue

Do I know you?

The well-appointed woman peers at me over her Whole Foods shopping cart, brimming with free-range chicken, organic fruit, and glass-bottled Kombucha.

Im not surprised shes finally asking. She seems like someone whod recognize me, clad in the unofficial Lincoln Park Traders Wife uniform of perfectly buttery-blond ponytail, high-speed sneakers, Lululemon, and more ice than youd find in your garden-variety cocktail. I noticed her watching me while I debated between frise and spring-mix greens and then later when I perused wild-caught salmon. (Naturally, I buy only seafood approved by the Monterey Bay Aquariums Seafood Watch Program. And who wouldnt? Sustainability matters.)

She continues, Im so sorrythis is weird, right? But I feel like I know you somehow. She taps a couple of expertly manicured fingers on her artificially enhanced lips as she tries to piece together our connection.

I smile beatifically, as this sort of thing happens to me all the time; its one of the complications of being a local celebrity. I find that people have a lot more fun when they finally determine who I am on their own, so I opt not to offer any clues.

Did you graduate from Maine South High School?

Public school? Oh, honey. No. But bless your heart for marrying up.

I shake my head. I attended Taylor Park Academy. I dont mention that this is Chicagos most infamous Ivy League feeder school, as anyone who cares is already familiar with their commitment to academics.

She furrows her brow and searches my face. Hmm... did you go to Northern?

Again, a great big no here. I attended the University of Chicago for undergrad and masters, even though I was accepted to Yale and Stanford, too. Clearly, Taylor Park Academy is no joke. Had Obama not been elected for a second term, this is where his kids would matriculate. However, Im a public figure, so Im loath to make this potential fan feel bad about her subpar education.

No, Im afraid not.

Its irrelevant to mention that my older sister, Mary Magdalene, attended Northern. Of course, she was there for only a year before she dropped out to marry her high school boyfriend.