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The Phantom Limbs of the Rollow Sisters
On their own in the family antique shop in Nebraska, coming-of-age Lily and Mabel struggle to understand their father's suicide and mother's abandonment, and when Lily travels to Arizona to confront their mother, Mabel seeks to make contact with their father's ghost.
240 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2002
About the author
Timothy Schaffert
20 books186 followersAuthor of five novels: The Swan Gondola, The Coffins of Little Hope, Devils in the Sugar Shop, The Singing and Dancing Daughters of God, and The Phantom Limbs of the Rollow Sisters. Director of the (downtown) omaha lit fest. Contributing editor, Fairy Tale Review. Assistant Professor in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln creative writing program.
"The Singing and Dancing Daughters of God" is part of the Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers program, and was the 2007 Omaha Reads one-book-one-city selection. "Devils in the Sugar Shop" was a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice and a Book Sense pick.
"The Singing and Dancing Daughters of God" is part of the Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers program, and was the 2007 Omaha Reads one-book-one-city selection. "Devils in the Sugar Shop" was a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice and a Book Sense pick.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
April 9, 2012
One of the odder well-written books I've read in a long while. Author Schaffert crafts sentences in a beguiling way, piling up details and creating situations with the logic of dreams, propelling the reader along, until the book becomes a lot like getting lost in a fun house. And looking back at vantage points in the narrative, it doesn't all make a lot of sense. The Rollow Sisters (Mabel, not her real name; and Lily) don't have "phantom limbs" except in some metaphorical sense that's left to the reader to puzzle out. Abandoned by every member of their family (one of them a suicide) the two young women live in a house crammed with mostly worthless junk for sale, which clutters the story itself in fascinating detail.
Meanwhile, their heads are filled with another kind of clutter - attitudes, poses, bits of storylines from movies, magazines, tabloids, and a dozen other forms of popular culture. The two of them inhabit a world of imagination in a suspended state of arrested development. One of them suddenly leaves with a boyfriend in search of their mother. The other becomes strangely involved with a grieving family of brothers. Recommended for readers who like out of the ordinary and not so obvious fiction that keeps you guessing how all the pieces will eventually fit together.
Meanwhile, their heads are filled with another kind of clutter - attitudes, poses, bits of storylines from movies, magazines, tabloids, and a dozen other forms of popular culture. The two of them inhabit a world of imagination in a suspended state of arrested development. One of them suddenly leaves with a boyfriend in search of their mother. The other becomes strangely involved with a grieving family of brothers. Recommended for readers who like out of the ordinary and not so obvious fiction that keeps you guessing how all the pieces will eventually fit together.
January 8, 2012
The characters and almost anachronistic vibe of this novel elevate the story from run of the mill coming-of-age into the Nebraska Gothic and its undercurrent of regret, nostalgia, and genuine love its characters feel for each other. There's an oddball Anne Tyler-ness here, but the rundown rural Midwest town where the story's set is as much a part as the characters and their desperate need to connect and repair from unbearable abandonment. It's clear that this first novel was preparation for The Coffins of Little Hope; Schaffert's talents are many, but his ability to firmly pull readers into his imagination and then make them empathize fully with the characters is one of his strongest. As in Coffins, there is a signal that the old world is falling away, and only the artifacts of old junk shops and small town newspapers remain as psychic portals to the past.
June 16, 2017
Actual rating is about closer to a 3.5. It was a good read but the first half I have to admit I kept getting distracted only because the MC kept flittering between thoughts and little past stories so often that it barely held my attention. But it is a really interesting story. The ending... I'm not sure how it's an ending. I can sort of see how, but... I don't know.
I've been spending all day moving heavy stuff and traveling on the road and, to be quite honest, I'm too tired to explain it. I probably won't do a proper review just simply because this was picked up as a 'Blind Date with a Book' before Valentine's Day. It's better than the book I had gotten last year though... oh gosh.
I've been spending all day moving heavy stuff and traveling on the road and, to be quite honest, I'm too tired to explain it. I probably won't do a proper review just simply because this was picked up as a 'Blind Date with a Book' before Valentine's Day. It's better than the book I had gotten last year though... oh gosh.
October 27, 2018
Schaffert is from Nebraska and this novel is mostly set in the state that's not for everyone, and I would say this new state motto applies to this book as well. While this is a perfectly well-written likeable story, I didn't find it particularly interesting, but I can see how a certain type of person might be compelled by the story. If you have a sister you've struggled to have a relationship with (I don't), maybe this is a good read. I did like the writing - straightforward prose with just the right amount of flair to give places and people some depth. I just wish I cared about the characters more.
October 24, 2007
This is an engaging book to read if you can handle following a story of two young women who have been affected (who wouldn't have been) by their father's suicide and already-depressed mother's abandonment when they were young girls. Most of it takes place in the middle-of-nowhere Nebraska (enough to make some of us depressed on its own).
August 13, 2011
*** 1/2
I really like Schaffert's voice and I'm glad I discovered this book. My confusion is that it was hard to gauge how much time elapsed from beginning to end. I *think* it was just a few days, but an awful lot happened in just a few days, and that doesn't seem plausible.
Film rights have just been sold on this book and I'm looking so forward to that.
I really like Schaffert's voice and I'm glad I discovered this book. My confusion is that it was hard to gauge how much time elapsed from beginning to end. I *think* it was just a few days, but an awful lot happened in just a few days, and that doesn't seem plausible.
Film rights have just been sold on this book and I'm looking so forward to that.
September 19, 2016
I think there should be a genre called Quirky Midwesterns. Schaffert would be one of the masters! While I did not enjoy this one quite as much as The Coffins of Little Hope, I do enjoy his style, characters, and settings. He makes the story unfold before you, inviting your senses to fully participate in the reading of his books.
September 20, 2024
Beautiful writing style but not a plot that called me back to read more.
January 21, 2025
As a Nebraskan (where the book is set), I really wanted to like this book, but frankly, I found it to be a little too weird.
There were things I liked, such as the author’s vivid descriptions and imagination in creating quirky details. I also liked the references to places in the state, some of which are familiar to me.
Unfortunately, I never felt connected to the characters. Their actions were never really backed up by feelings or reasoning, they just seemed to aimlessly wander through the story doing odd, pointless things. It actually annoyed me and gave me no inclination toward empathy for them. The beginning was hard to follow, with all the back and forth between present and past, and the end was random and abrupt.
All said, though I didn’t like this book, I would give another of Schaffert’s books a chance. I think there is enough promise in his writing style to try this author’s work again.
There were things I liked, such as the author’s vivid descriptions and imagination in creating quirky details. I also liked the references to places in the state, some of which are familiar to me.
Unfortunately, I never felt connected to the characters. Their actions were never really backed up by feelings or reasoning, they just seemed to aimlessly wander through the story doing odd, pointless things. It actually annoyed me and gave me no inclination toward empathy for them. The beginning was hard to follow, with all the back and forth between present and past, and the end was random and abrupt.
All said, though I didn’t like this book, I would give another of Schaffert’s books a chance. I think there is enough promise in his writing style to try this author’s work again.
March 28, 2024
Lily as Mabel live I a junk shop after her father killed himself and their mother left them. The sisters have survived by depending upon each other and their strange dreams. Each have different experiences with
Lily leaving home looking for their mother. Eventually Lily returns to the junk shop to find Mabel has made some changes.
Lily leaving home looking for their mother. Eventually Lily returns to the junk shop to find Mabel has made some changes.
June 11, 2022
After mulling over my almost final rating for this book, I decided I liked it more than I let on. This could have been a five star book, except for the slow going early on. So now I’d add on a half star to the other four. Great story!
October 23, 2024
I picked this book up knowing nothing about but ended up really loving it. I mean, I thought I’d enjoy it, but didn’t realize how much. I think it’s the prose that spoke to me or the pandering nature of the story. Or both.
August 19, 2017
A quirky little gem.
May 26, 2020
I kept reading & reading, waiting for a plot twist or something...
March 10, 2017
Mabel and Lily have been left alone. Having graduated High School their grandmother and last vestige of family, ups and leaves for Florida almost following in their mother’s footsteps into the ether and never to be seen again. Two young and very different women, with all the usual sibling rivalry but also the invisible threads that tie two sisters with only each other to depend upon, Mabel and Lily are reconciling their abandonment with their new liberty. Except Lily is not alone – she has Jordan. At least she thinks she does. Jordan is ‘with’ Lily but he loves both of them which creates some tension and competitiveness between them. In pursuit of knowledge (and to be the first to reunite), Lily sets off with Jordan to go and find her mother. Abandoned again, Mabel sets about ‘finding’ her dead father.
‘Mabel had considered a disguise for watching Mr. Roseleaf and his sons. In the antique shop, a collection of wigs and wiglets were pinned to faceless Styrofoam heads lined up on a vanity. Mabel and Lily used to wear the wigs when they played “Divorcees Having Pepsi at Three,” a soap opera they invented.’
With ethereal qualities, a magical atmosphere against a dry hot Nebraska landscape, this story is one of adventure and daily survival, as well as glitter and lip gloss. Timothy Schaffert spins a reflective coming of age tale, with flare, wonder, and just the right touch of magical realism. This was his celebrated debut novel.
‘Mabel had considered a disguise for watching Mr. Roseleaf and his sons. In the antique shop, a collection of wigs and wiglets were pinned to faceless Styrofoam heads lined up on a vanity. Mabel and Lily used to wear the wigs when they played “Divorcees Having Pepsi at Three,” a soap opera they invented.’
With ethereal qualities, a magical atmosphere against a dry hot Nebraska landscape, this story is one of adventure and daily survival, as well as glitter and lip gloss. Timothy Schaffert spins a reflective coming of age tale, with flare, wonder, and just the right touch of magical realism. This was his celebrated debut novel.
Read
April 6, 2015I'm not sure if I'll give this book 3 or 5 stars -- sometimes it depends on how long the characters continue to live in my head after I finish the last page.
This strange tale relates but never unravels the story of a Nebraska mom who makes Mommy Dearest a candidate for Mother of the Year. When Mom takes off with just the latest of the truck drivers and wanna-be cowboys that cat wouldn't drag in, she leaves young Lily and Madeline (who decides to call herself Mable instead) at home to run Grandma's old junk store. The girls fill their days at first with playing store and dress up with the hats and clothing, and later go on to playing house with some of the younger callers who are disappointed to discover mom has taken off.
The girls are alternatively plucky, reminding me of the heroines of the Language of Flowers and GirlChild. Other times they portray much darker and sadder roles as they teeter on the edge of addiction, abuse, and worse.
Their missed childhood slips out as they struggle to understand why their mom left, which one of them disappointed her most, why the neighbor child couldn't be saved when her foot was caught in the drain at the bottom of a pool and which of the being they sense are nearby are angels and which are ghosts. Amid their self-proclaimed amulets, charms, milagros, and lucky pieces, they struggle to survive long enough to grow up and long before they encounter marriage, a long road trip to find their mother, and far more.
Did I like it? I didn't consider giving up on it. the author had me hooked in this world where Willy Wonka, Michael Jackson and the Mad Hatter meet Tatum O'Neal and Miley Cyrus at The Dolly Parton Theme Park's gift shop after AFTER a tremendous robbery and act of vandalism. THEN is starts to get kinda crazy.
This strange tale relates but never unravels the story of a Nebraska mom who makes Mommy Dearest a candidate for Mother of the Year. When Mom takes off with just the latest of the truck drivers and wanna-be cowboys that cat wouldn't drag in, she leaves young Lily and Madeline (who decides to call herself Mable instead) at home to run Grandma's old junk store. The girls fill their days at first with playing store and dress up with the hats and clothing, and later go on to playing house with some of the younger callers who are disappointed to discover mom has taken off.
The girls are alternatively plucky, reminding me of the heroines of the Language of Flowers and GirlChild. Other times they portray much darker and sadder roles as they teeter on the edge of addiction, abuse, and worse.
Their missed childhood slips out as they struggle to understand why their mom left, which one of them disappointed her most, why the neighbor child couldn't be saved when her foot was caught in the drain at the bottom of a pool and which of the being they sense are nearby are angels and which are ghosts. Amid their self-proclaimed amulets, charms, milagros, and lucky pieces, they struggle to survive long enough to grow up and long before they encounter marriage, a long road trip to find their mother, and far more.
Did I like it? I didn't consider giving up on it. the author had me hooked in this world where Willy Wonka, Michael Jackson and the Mad Hatter meet Tatum O'Neal and Miley Cyrus at The Dolly Parton Theme Park's gift shop after AFTER a tremendous robbery and act of vandalism. THEN is starts to get kinda crazy.
August 29, 2014
I did not like this book at all. I felt no connection to any of the characters. I really couldn't put myself into the story and feel it.
When people have body parts amputated they often still have phantom feelings where the arms, legs, etc. were. In the book, the girls lost their father by suicide and their mother by abandonment. They still have unresolved feelings regarding both parents even though neither are around anymore.
I don't think either girl really came to an understanding about her past. Mabel learned a bit about how other people grieve and has decided to make a change in her life by eliminating all the junk from the shop. I still don't think she fully accepts or understands why her life is the way it is. Lily learned more about her mother and I guess in a way about her father by visiting her mother. I think she will accept that her parents aren't ever coming back and that her mother has a good life without her but I don't think she likes it. I really feel that both girls want a clear cut reason for why. They want someone else to take responsibility for the boring depressing life that they have.
When people have body parts amputated they often still have phantom feelings where the arms, legs, etc. were. In the book, the girls lost their father by suicide and their mother by abandonment. They still have unresolved feelings regarding both parents even though neither are around anymore.
I don't think either girl really came to an understanding about her past. Mabel learned a bit about how other people grieve and has decided to make a change in her life by eliminating all the junk from the shop. I still don't think she fully accepts or understands why her life is the way it is. Lily learned more about her mother and I guess in a way about her father by visiting her mother. I think she will accept that her parents aren't ever coming back and that her mother has a good life without her but I don't think she likes it. I really feel that both girls want a clear cut reason for why. They want someone else to take responsibility for the boring depressing life that they have.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 10, 2010
Lily and Mabel Two sisters who were left with Grandma after dad committed suicide, and mom ran off and just went as she pleased. Lily and her Boyfriend steal a car and head south west looking for mom, Madel who was left the antique shop because grandma left as soon as Mabel was old enough to take care of her sister. So Mabel decided to try to Commune somehow with her fathers ghost.
If you like depressive stories this would be up your alley.I felt bad for the two young Lady's ...I did not finish the book it was a little to depressive for me I like up beat funny or mystery and romance . I thought I would try something new and well this was not my type of book but it was written very well.
If you like depressive stories this would be up your alley.I felt bad for the two young Lady's ...I did not finish the book it was a little to depressive for me I like up beat funny or mystery and romance . I thought I would try something new and well this was not my type of book but it was written very well.
Read
July 8, 2016An engaging, offbeat, and endearing story of two girls, orphaned by their parents in different ways. The story captures their search for explanations of the past and for keys to their future happiness. Both the story and the writing were reminiscent to me of Housekeeping (M. Robinson) and Lark and Termite (J. A. Phillips). Schaffert is a talented writer with a keen and gentle understanding of human frailties.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 15, 2010
The characters could have been more developed. I feel like this book could of continued for another 200 pages. Maybe he will write a 2nd book.
December 23, 2011
Not bad. loved the reference to King Fong's, which, yes, is an actual restaurant in Omaha.
June 15, 2012
Not as good as its title.
August 11, 2012
wonderful, stepping into another world where everything blends into everything else-delightfully unpredictable- page turning pleasure ... this writer is one of my new favourites... thank you Timothy
August 9, 2014
Weird characters too annoying to be interesting.
July 6, 2014
I'm a big fan of Schaffert and this one had everything I enjoy about his writing.
March 9, 2015
Sadly disappointing. I wasn't able to connect with the characters or storyline. The writing felt a bit forced and affected.
September 18, 2016
Bored me idk. Didn't get very far into it
December 27, 2007
Funny, quick read.
May 10, 2011
I'm not sure it was anything special, but it was interesting enough to finish.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews