‘The Insatiable Volt Sisters’ packs jolts | Book Talk
“The Insatiable Volt Sisters,” a horror-fantasy by Antioch College alumna Rachel Eve Moulton, takes place on fictional Fowler Island, described as opposite Marblehead in Lake Erie. Half sisters Henrietta and Beatrice Volt grow up close, perhaps unnaturally so, in a crumbling, creepy Victorian home built by their great-grandfather who had bought the island for its sandstone deposits. The girls now swim in the quarry, well aware of its dangers.
Their father is a poet who seems to have married his second wife, Carrie, largely because of her resemblance to his late first wife. When Henrie is 14, James and Carrie split up, and Carrie takes Henrie to live off the island. B.B. remains, growing up with people like Ms. Sonia, the island curator. Ms. Sonia runs a small museum, but the post of curator has a mystic aspect, “to make sure island secrets are kept on island.” There are many island secrets.
Only a few other families live on Fowler year-round; more have summer homes and live off-island, but most are the detested tourists who come over on the ferry for events like Masquerade, a drunken Halloween-in-April. They might not come if they knew about the “women [who] disappeared in the quarry . . . women no one was looking for. Only small items of clothing and jewelry are left on the cliff, and no bodies are ever found.
The narrative shifts from 1989, before the girls are separated, to 2000, when B.B. calls Henrie to report their father’s death. Henrie and Carrie return to the island, and it is then that the book turns from Gothic to pure horror. A character says that the island “did what was necessary to keep its secrets hidden,” but the sisters’ reunion arouses Fowler Island to give up its secrets and its dead — with teeth.
“The Insatiable Volt Sisters” (464 pages, softcover) costs $18 from Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Rachel Eve Moulton’s debut novel, “Tinfoil Butterfly,” was nominated for the Shirley Jackson and Bram Stoker awards.
‘Close Every Sales Call!’
Are you a salesperson? Do you close every sale? Maybe not, but “Close Every Sales Call! A Professional’s Guide to Selling and Sales Management” by Akron native Edward C. Rich can get you closer to your goal.
Rich, who has spent a career in sales, describes his own experiences as a young representative for Goodyear’s Plastics Division, based in St. Louis. He had a dismal record until he called the best salesman in his group and asked for advice, and his sales career took off, leading to a large offer from another company and then to work in freight and telecommunications.
While throwing in anecdotes from his own career, explaining his own rookie mistakes and how he overcame them, Rich goes into building rapport with customers, prioritizing clients, time management and negotiation. He finishes with what the qualities of a good sales manager.
The advice is specific practical, without relying on threadbare inspirational quotes. “Close Every Sales Call” (171 pages, hardcover) costs $20 from online retailers.
Events
Medina County District Library (210 S. Broadway St.): Martin Gitlin discusses “The Greatest Sitcoms of All Time,” 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Monday.
B-Side (2785 Euclid Heights Blvd., Cleveland Heights): Allegra Hyde (“Eleutheria”) talks to Cleveland author Dan Chaon (“Sleepwalk,” “Among the Missing”) about her forthcoming “Last Catastrophe: Stories,” 7 p.m. Monday.
Cuyahoga County Public Library (Parma-Snow branch, 2121 Snow Road): Sally Hepworth appears with her thriller “The Soulmate,” 7 to 8 p.m. Monday. Register at cuyahogalibrary.org.
Hudson Library & Historical Society: Kristin Hannah, author of “The Four Winds,” a novel about a woman who tries to survive the Dust Bowl and Depression, appears in a virtual event at 7 p.m. Monday. At 7 p.m. Thursday, pediatrician Kelly Fradin talks about “Advanced Parenting: Advice for Helping Kids through Diagnoses, Differences, and Mental Health Challenges”; at 1 p.m. Saturday, Scottish historian Jane Draycott discusses “Cleopatra’s Daughter: From Roman Prisoner to African Queen.” Register at hudsonlibrary.org.
Medina County District Library (Brunswick branch, 3649 Center Road): Dustin Brady, author of the “Trapped in a Video Game” series, helps kids put together their own stories, 6 p.m. Tuesday. Register at medina.lib.oh.us.
Stark Library (Lake Community branch, 565 Market Ave. SW, Lake Township): Surgeon Ajay K. Seth and his patient Melissa Loomis talk about “Rewired: An Unlikely Doctor, A Brave Amputee, and the Medical Miracle That Made History,” 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. Register at starklibrary.org.
Lakewood Public Library (15425 Detroit Ave.): Marc Bona talks about “Hidden History of Cleveland Sports,” 7 p.m. Wednesday.
Cuyahoga County Public Library (Berea branch, 7 Berea Commons): Mark Dawidziak discusses “A Mystery of Mysteries: The Death and Life of Edgar Allan Poe,” 7 to 8 p.m. Wednesday. Register at cuyahogalibrary.org.
Mac’s Backs (1820 Coventry Road, Cleveland Heights): Poets Christine Howey (“I Have a Poem About That”) and Chuck Joy (“Vinyl”) read from their work, 7 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library (Coventry Village branch, 1925 Coventry Road, Cleveland Heights): John J. Grabowski and Lauren R. Pacini present their pictorial “Cleveland Cultural Gardens: A Landscape of Diversity,” 7 to 8 p.m. Thursday. Register at heightslibrary.org.
Akron-Summit County Public Library (Green branch, 4046 Massillon Road, Green): David Meyers and Elise Meyers Walker talk about “The Reverse Underground Railroad in Ohio” and how the state drew slave catchers who kidnapped fugitives, 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. Saturday. Register at akronlibrary.org.
Learned Owl Book Shop (204 N. Main St., Hudson): David Allen Edmonds signs his romance “Unexpected Love,” set in a town that resembles Medina, and his previous books “Personal Pronouns” and “Indirect Objects,” 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday.
Akron-Summit County Public Library (Maple Valley branch, 1187 Copley Road): Jowan Smith talks about her children’s books “Grandma Hattie’s Ice Cream” and “Mya, Mya, Mya,” 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday. Register at akronlibrary.org.
Dover Public Library (525 N. Walnut St.): Former Ohio Gov. Richard Celeste talks about “In the Heart of It All: An Unvarnished Account of My Life in Public Service,” 6:30 p.m. Saturday. Register at doverlibrary.org.
Visible Voice Books (2258 Professor Ave., Cleveland): Hope Bollinger signs “A Country of Their Own,” about romance in a Florida retirement home, 7 p.m. Saturday.
Email information about books of local interest, and event notices at least two weeks in advance to BeaconBookTalk@gmail.com and bjnews@thebeaconjournal.com. Barbara McIntyre tweets at @BarbaraMcI.
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This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: ‘The Insatiable Volt Sisters’ by Rachel Eve Moulton packs jolts
