History & Criticism
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The Cherry Robbers
"Sarai Walker has done it again. With The Cherry Robbers she upends the Gothic ghost story with a fiery feminist zeal." -Maria Semple
The highly anticipated second novel from Sarai Walker, following her "slyly subversive" (EW) cult-hit Dietland-a feminist gothic about the lone survivor of a cursed family of sisters, whose time may finally be up.?
IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE FIRST DAY OF THE REST OF THEIR LIVES.
INSTEAD IT WAS THE LAST.
Iris Chapel and her five elegant sisters, all of them heiresses to the Chapel firearms fortune, live cloistered in a lavish Victorian mansion. Neglected by both a distant, workaholic father and a mentally troubled mother-who believes their home is haunted by the victims of Chapel weapons-the sisters have grown up with only each other for company. They long to escape the eerie fairy tale of their childhood and move forward into the modern world, but for young women in 1950s Connecticut, the only way out is through marriage.
Yet it soon becomes clear that for the Chapel sisters, marriage equals death.
When the eldest sister walks down the aisle, tragedy strikes. The bride dies mysteriously the very next day, leaving her family and the town in shock. But this is just the beginning of a chain of disasters that will make each woman wonder whether true love will kill her, too. Only Iris, the second-youngest, finds a way to escape-but can she outrun the family curse forever?
Sarai Walker, the acclaimed author of the cult-hit novel Dietland, building off the Gothic tradition of Shirley Jackson, brings to life this riveting, deliciously twisted feminist tale, a gorgeous and provocative page-turner about the legacy of male power and the cost of female freedom.
The highly anticipated second novel from Sarai Walker, following her "slyly subversive" (EW) cult-hit Dietland-a feminist gothic about the lone survivor of a cursed family of sisters, whose time may finally be up.?
IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE FIRST DAY OF THE REST OF THEIR LIVES.
INSTEAD IT WAS THE LAST.
Iris Chapel and her five elegant sisters, all of them heiresses to the Chapel firearms fortune, live cloistered in a lavish Victorian mansion. Neglected by both a distant, workaholic father and a mentally troubled mother-who believes their home is haunted by the victims of Chapel weapons-the sisters have grown up with only each other for company. They long to escape the eerie fairy tale of their childhood and move forward into the modern world, but for young women in 1950s Connecticut, the only way out is through marriage.
Yet it soon becomes clear that for the Chapel sisters, marriage equals death.
When the eldest sister walks down the aisle, tragedy strikes. The bride dies mysteriously the very next day, leaving her family and the town in shock. But this is just the beginning of a chain of disasters that will make each woman wonder whether true love will kill her, too. Only Iris, the second-youngest, finds a way to escape-but can she outrun the family curse forever?
Sarai Walker, the acclaimed author of the cult-hit novel Dietland, building off the Gothic tradition of Shirley Jackson, brings to life this riveting, deliciously twisted feminist tale, a gorgeous and provocative page-turner about the legacy of male power and the cost of female freedom.
Editorial Reviews
"Hooray! Sarai Walker has done it again. With The Cherry Robbers she upends the Gothic ghost story with a fiery feminist zeal." - Maria Semple, bestselling author of Where'd You Go, Bernadette and Today Will Be Different
"Oh, I love Sarai Walker's The Cherry Robbers! The Chapel sisters, of a fictional gun manufacturing fortune, grow up in a house that looks like a wedding cake. But each of them is fated to die on their wedding night, a multi-generational curse that seems to set free only those women who put art above marriage. A twisted take on the artist's coming-of-age story, The Cherry Robbers tackles deep questions about marriage, sexuality, familial loyalty, guns and the artist's life-a witty, delicious, demented joyride." - Susan Scarf Merrell, author of Shirley, now a major motion picture
"Walker's take on the classic Gothic tale fairly shimmers, titillating with a heady concoction of terror and desire, frothy with fever-pitched emotions, and dark with smothering melancholy and macabre spectres." - Booklist(starred review)
"Walker gives us indelible descriptions of flowers, foods, and fabrics as we coexist with the vivid Chapel sisters, but inside the lush exterior, the novel thrums with violence, oppression, and blood. This fierce feminist tale hit me in the heart and hasn't let me go." - Stacey Swann, author of Olympus, Texas
"Delightfully eerie…This uncanny tale of dark origins shines brightly." - Publishers Weekly
"This gorgeously written and all-consuming gothic explores feminism and sexuality and left me more than a little heartbroken." - Buzzfeed
"Walker's long-anticipated sophomore novel is a spooky departure from the feminist anarchy of ‘Dietland,' but a welcome one that speaks to the author's range." - WBUR Boston
A New York Times: "18 New Works of Ficti...
"Oh, I love Sarai Walker's The Cherry Robbers! The Chapel sisters, of a fictional gun manufacturing fortune, grow up in a house that looks like a wedding cake. But each of them is fated to die on their wedding night, a multi-generational curse that seems to set free only those women who put art above marriage. A twisted take on the artist's coming-of-age story, The Cherry Robbers tackles deep questions about marriage, sexuality, familial loyalty, guns and the artist's life-a witty, delicious, demented joyride." - Susan Scarf Merrell, author of Shirley, now a major motion picture
"Walker's take on the classic Gothic tale fairly shimmers, titillating with a heady concoction of terror and desire, frothy with fever-pitched emotions, and dark with smothering melancholy and macabre spectres." - Booklist(starred review)
"Walker gives us indelible descriptions of flowers, foods, and fabrics as we coexist with the vivid Chapel sisters, but inside the lush exterior, the novel thrums with violence, oppression, and blood. This fierce feminist tale hit me in the heart and hasn't let me go." - Stacey Swann, author of Olympus, Texas
"Delightfully eerie…This uncanny tale of dark origins shines brightly." - Publishers Weekly
"This gorgeously written and all-consuming gothic explores feminism and sexuality and left me more than a little heartbroken." - Buzzfeed
"Walker's long-anticipated sophomore novel is a spooky departure from the feminist anarchy of ‘Dietland,' but a welcome one that speaks to the author's range." - WBUR Boston
A New York Times: "18 New Works of Ficti...
Readers Top Reviews
Layton
The Cherry Robbers by Sarai Walker is a blend of Southern Gothic and historical fantasy that will appeal to fans of We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson or The Invisible Life of Addie Larue by V.E. Schwab. The story revolves around Sylvia, a reclusive artist with a mysterious past. She has become relatively well-known in art circles, but nobody knows who she was before she became an artist. Here is an excerpt from Chapter 1 when Sylvia receives a disturbing letter from a journalist: :"I'm wondering if any of this sounds familiar to you? I laughed audibly, more like a scoff of confusion, alarm. Why would it be familiar to me? I'm Sylvia Wren, an artist who lives in Abiquiu, New Mexico. I was born and raised in Illinois and now I'm a New Mexican. I know nothing of New England. Or at least that's what I tell people. But I kept reading the letter because Bellflower Village, the Popplewells, and the house in robin's-egg blue are not actually unknown to me - or rather to the person I used to be. I don't mean to be coy, Ms. Wren, so let me get to the point: Mrs. Levasseur had a bit too much champagne at lunch and let slip that she knows a secret about you." Soon after she receives the letter, Sylvia panics. Then, we are given a flashback to the 1950's when Sylvia and her sister, the Chapel sisters lived in a gorgeous house with their overbearing mother and father. The sisters long to get married so that they can leave the house. When the eldest Aster gets engaged, their mother has a horrible premonition that something will happen as a result of the wedding. The rest of the family ignore her, but something terrible does indeed happen. Is the family cursed? Are sinister forces are play, or is the real threat much closer to home? Overall, The Cherry Robbers is a delightful, spooky Gothic novel. I couldn't put this book down. I ended up finishing it in a day. One highlight of this book is the pairing of beautiful descriptions of items of consumption with the creepy ghosts that haunt the family's mansion. It reminded me slightly of the horror of Crimson Peak, which is one of my favorite films, and the quirkiness of the film Penelope or the TV show Pushing Daisies. If you're intrigued by the excerpt above, or if you're a fan of Gothic novels like the works of Shirley Jackson, then I highly recommend that you check out this book when it comes out in May!
