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If Sylvie Had Nine Lives
An innovative, gorgeously written story about the small decisions that shape our lives.
Meet Sylvie—funny, sly, sensual and flawed. She can’t always count on herself to make good choices. She may or may not recognize a life-or-death moment, may or may not cancel her own wedding with a day to spare, might just try to walk past store security with a little something in her pocket. Like all of us, Sylvie must make decisions that have reverberations for years to come. Unlike the rest of us, Sylvie gets to live more than one life.
In airy prose imbued with humour, this novel-in-stories asks the big questions: is there a right path and a wrong path, or does each possibility hold its share of pleasure and pain? Does a person have an immutable self, or is her essence dependent on circumstances? In this energetic and innovative book, Leona Theis creates a world without the usual limits and a protaganist who is conflicted, charismatic, brave, and full of curiosity. If Sylvie Had Nine Lives is for everyone who has ever asked, What if...?
Meet Sylvie—funny, sly, sensual and flawed. She can’t always count on herself to make good choices. She may or may not recognize a life-or-death moment, may or may not cancel her own wedding with a day to spare, might just try to walk past store security with a little something in her pocket. Like all of us, Sylvie must make decisions that have reverberations for years to come. Unlike the rest of us, Sylvie gets to live more than one life.
In airy prose imbued with humour, this novel-in-stories asks the big questions: is there a right path and a wrong path, or does each possibility hold its share of pleasure and pain? Does a person have an immutable self, or is her essence dependent on circumstances? In this energetic and innovative book, Leona Theis creates a world without the usual limits and a protaganist who is conflicted, charismatic, brave, and full of curiosity. If Sylvie Had Nine Lives is for everyone who has ever asked, What if...?
306 pages, Paperback
Published September 1, 2020
26 people are currently reading
289 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 68 reviews
November 29, 2022
I absolutely loved this book. Its "what if?” premise is one I'm sure we have all thought about at times, and the writing is exquisite. There were many times as I was reading that I found myself stopping to reread various sections -- not because I needed to figure out what was going on, but rather to simply savour the prose and the images it evoked. This is one book that I plan on reading again at some point, just so I can fully appreciate how beautifully it all fits together. Highly recommended.
January 14, 2023
sylvie’s love is underwhelming and i think that’s what makes me unsympathetic to the majority of this book. i wouldn’t say i’m hateful to her either, just ambivalent to the messes she runs herself into. the writing isn’t bad, i’d even say it was good? but it portrays sylvie as flat — something i relate to — with actions that don’t portray the same. not to say dissociative people can’t be extreme, but damn, what is driving her when her inner most thoughts are giving us nothing.
regardless. she’s wholly the best in the arms of her aunt or all alone or, in rare occasions, of will. none of these are romantic love. i can respect that but so much of this book is very much about the partners she runs to and from (a lot a lot of from) that i just wait for them to inevitably pass by. 2004 was the best year for me for sure, though 1989 i appreciated quite a bit as well. they’re the years (plus a couple very pretty passages throughout from theis) that bump this from two to three stars for me.
regardless, again. wow is there a clarity issue (relatable) and so much fucking cheating. it is fun read for both saskatchewan’s locals and little bit more than short time visitors — plenty of little “ooh i know that” tidbits. i think it finished as well as anything and left an airy sort of feeling in its wake.
regardless. she’s wholly the best in the arms of her aunt or all alone or, in rare occasions, of will. none of these are romantic love. i can respect that but so much of this book is very much about the partners she runs to and from (a lot a lot of from) that i just wait for them to inevitably pass by. 2004 was the best year for me for sure, though 1989 i appreciated quite a bit as well. they’re the years (plus a couple very pretty passages throughout from theis) that bump this from two to three stars for me.
regardless, again. wow is there a clarity issue (relatable) and so much fucking cheating. it is fun read for both saskatchewan’s locals and little bit more than short time visitors — plenty of little “ooh i know that” tidbits. i think it finished as well as anything and left an airy sort of feeling in its wake.
January 19, 2023
I will admit I never actually finished this book. It started off really good but then it just made me reflect on all the stupid decisions I’ve made in my life and where my life may have been if I didn’t marry my stupid ex husband lol then I got frustrated, so I just had to give it up 🤷🏼♀️
November 11, 2022
pretty disappointed because the concept/idea of this book is so good and i really thought it would be a good read but it was just hard to get through. the book just didn't flow nicely and each time jump or new life of sylvie's was hard to understand and that's it. a thousand names get dropped in every chapter and by the time you figure out who each person is your onto the next year/life. there was nothing super interesting about the writing and it didn't make me feel anything either. but the concept of each decision you make changing the entire trajectory of your life is so interesting, and the fact that this book didn't live up to any of the potential it could've had makes me angry.
March 24, 2021
Basically a collection of short stories about one woman whose life takes different routes based on small changes. Extremely well written and engrossing. Emphasizes how small choices can impact a life. I will definitely be checking out the author's other work.
January 21, 2023
Overall, incredibly boring. From an individual “branch” perspective, still boring but with some takeaways. The only reason I read this was because it was promoted on Libby and I wanted a shorter read. I will be sticking to my TBR for the foreseeable future.
January 23, 2023
2.5 stars
While I generally love this sort of Sliding Doors theme, this one didn't hit the mark for me. There were too many branching paths, and the different Sylvias felt like they were fundamentally different people, and we never really got to know any of them.
While I generally love this sort of Sliding Doors theme, this one didn't hit the mark for me. There were too many branching paths, and the different Sylvias felt like they were fundamentally different people, and we never really got to know any of them.
January 26, 2023
I really wanted to get through my first book of the year but this just didn’t do it for me and I finally gave up. There’s too many books in the world to read one I don’t like.
February 4, 2023
Maybe a paper copy would be less confusing? I found it difficult to keep the threads straight. Plus I overall did not like sylvie.
January 24, 2023
Definitely different from what I have read before. It took me awhile to get into it, and understand what was going on, then it clicked and it fell into place. I often think about the what if’s in my life, what would the different branches have looked like. Having grown up in my teen years in Saskatoon, it was nice to reflect that part of my life and then moving onto Calgary,I felt I was moving on with Sylvia. We don’t get the chance to see where our lives will head, would we really want to?
January 26, 2023
Fascinating read. Beautifully written. During the read I was frustrated with it. I wanted to leave it and move on to something else..but I couldn't. And now it's finished I am intrigued and left with the warmth of a good read.
January 25, 2023
I really enjoyed the writing style and Sylvie is a great character. I can see myself reading this one again.
January 18, 2023
What if ? What if you had turned left instead of right? A good read that leaves you wondering how a life could be different. I enjoyed this.
July 28, 2021
If Sylvie Had Nine Lives is an innovative novel told in stories, each of them a marvel, fresh and surprising.
In the first story, “High Beam,” Sylvie is about to marry Jack but is distracted by Erik. It is June 1974 and every time the year advances, as it does throughout the book, there is a new map.
The maps don’t show straight lines from here to there, though. There are multiple lines fanning out from June 1974 showing many possibilities for Sylvie as she marries Jack—or, in another of her nine lives, opts not to.
Sylvie imagines “a river branching into multiples of itself, no longer a single stream but a delta. And if her life were such a delta she might let the flow take her in a direction far from the current she was in now. If only there were more Sylvies, to ride the separate streams.”
Nino Ricci is right in his cover endorsement that the book “gives us a haunting, thrilling glimpse of the slender choices our lives hang by and the tangled threads that make even the simplest of them infinite mysteries.”
The stories have a look at “if only” and “what if” with nine timeframes up to 2014. I don’t want to give away all the various possibilities as it’s a delight to come across them as you read. Here’s one: Sylvie doesn’t succumb to the advances of her roommate’s fiancé, yet we learn in another story that she did. As the narrator says: “More touch more thrill more people paying attention more of what she couldn’t even name.”
There is humor throughout, such as with the chapter “How Sylvie Failed to Become a Better Person through Yoga.” Sylvie, who lives in a Canadian university town, goes to yoga classes with her friend Will. Their teachers are Satya and Animesh. It’s amusing for the characters (as well as readers) to find out the teachers, with their particular chosen names, are from Swift Current, Saskatchewan and Gimli, Manitoba respectively.
From the beginning of the book, Sylvie often has secrets “in the bottom of her purse” as she steals things from shops. Even at the end she has this proclivity, and in her pocket “her fingers meet the pleasant surprise of a forgotten pair of pewter wishbone earrings still fastened to their plastic card.” Yet one can’t help but embrace Sylvie with her foibles, humor, and quirkiness.
In 2014, although older, Sylvie is not too old to be attracted to a man who interviews her. Another book of stories could begin here with the possibilities of staying or going, settling or reaching for further challenges and delights. As is said of Sylvie near the beginning of the book, “She wondered if she’d stumbled right past one of those moments that could send a life sideways.”
Story Circle Book Reviews thanks Mary Ann Moore for this review.
In the first story, “High Beam,” Sylvie is about to marry Jack but is distracted by Erik. It is June 1974 and every time the year advances, as it does throughout the book, there is a new map.
The maps don’t show straight lines from here to there, though. There are multiple lines fanning out from June 1974 showing many possibilities for Sylvie as she marries Jack—or, in another of her nine lives, opts not to.
Sylvie imagines “a river branching into multiples of itself, no longer a single stream but a delta. And if her life were such a delta she might let the flow take her in a direction far from the current she was in now. If only there were more Sylvies, to ride the separate streams.”
Nino Ricci is right in his cover endorsement that the book “gives us a haunting, thrilling glimpse of the slender choices our lives hang by and the tangled threads that make even the simplest of them infinite mysteries.”
The stories have a look at “if only” and “what if” with nine timeframes up to 2014. I don’t want to give away all the various possibilities as it’s a delight to come across them as you read. Here’s one: Sylvie doesn’t succumb to the advances of her roommate’s fiancé, yet we learn in another story that she did. As the narrator says: “More touch more thrill more people paying attention more of what she couldn’t even name.”
There is humor throughout, such as with the chapter “How Sylvie Failed to Become a Better Person through Yoga.” Sylvie, who lives in a Canadian university town, goes to yoga classes with her friend Will. Their teachers are Satya and Animesh. It’s amusing for the characters (as well as readers) to find out the teachers, with their particular chosen names, are from Swift Current, Saskatchewan and Gimli, Manitoba respectively.
From the beginning of the book, Sylvie often has secrets “in the bottom of her purse” as she steals things from shops. Even at the end she has this proclivity, and in her pocket “her fingers meet the pleasant surprise of a forgotten pair of pewter wishbone earrings still fastened to their plastic card.” Yet one can’t help but embrace Sylvie with her foibles, humor, and quirkiness.
In 2014, although older, Sylvie is not too old to be attracted to a man who interviews her. Another book of stories could begin here with the possibilities of staying or going, settling or reaching for further challenges and delights. As is said of Sylvie near the beginning of the book, “She wondered if she’d stumbled right past one of those moments that could send a life sideways.”
Story Circle Book Reviews thanks Mary Ann Moore for this review.
September 25, 2020
Who among us doesn’t occasionally wonder about how the paths not chosen might have offered a very different future? The decision not to go to university at that time, not to take that job, or not to marry that person might have changed everything. In If Sylvie Had Nine Lives, Leona Theis explores the difference such choices could make, doing so with sensitivity, acuity and humour.
This book is a lively read in which we get to explore Sylvie’s alternate lives. It highlights ways in which our present situation is the result of directions we took at various times when we really didn’t know where we were headed. Often the decisions are rash or ill-informed and yet sometimes they lead to surprisingly positive outcomes.
We trace paths through which Sylvie might end up as a soil scientist, a clerk in a library printshop, a designer of purses, a university professor. She might become a grandmother, a spinster, a divorcee, a widow. In each of these lives, Sylvie is and resilient. At the start of the book is a list of key dates that signalled crucial decisions and a map that presents them as a river flowing to different endpoints.
In the epigraph beside the map, Sylvia envisages a river coming to her: “A river branching into multiples of itself, no longer a single stream but a delta.” She imagines that the flow might take her in different directions, far away from where she now is. “If only there were more Sylvies, to ride the separate streams,” she says. And, yet, wherever her choices do lead her, Sylvie remains an engaging and energetic character
Leona Theis is a clever and sensitive writer who encourages us to examine the roads we didn’t take as well as the ones we did. Author of Sightlines, The Art of Salvage, and The Occupations of Muriel Thompson, as well as a number of award-winning essays, she shows us how mistakes, mishaps and pure chance can shape our lives, and yet there is always hope. Lives can be patched back together and repurposed in a process that brings deepened perception and appreciation.
This book is a lively read in which we get to explore Sylvie’s alternate lives. It highlights ways in which our present situation is the result of directions we took at various times when we really didn’t know where we were headed. Often the decisions are rash or ill-informed and yet sometimes they lead to surprisingly positive outcomes.
We trace paths through which Sylvie might end up as a soil scientist, a clerk in a library printshop, a designer of purses, a university professor. She might become a grandmother, a spinster, a divorcee, a widow. In each of these lives, Sylvie is and resilient. At the start of the book is a list of key dates that signalled crucial decisions and a map that presents them as a river flowing to different endpoints.
In the epigraph beside the map, Sylvia envisages a river coming to her: “A river branching into multiples of itself, no longer a single stream but a delta.” She imagines that the flow might take her in different directions, far away from where she now is. “If only there were more Sylvies, to ride the separate streams,” she says. And, yet, wherever her choices do lead her, Sylvie remains an engaging and energetic character
Leona Theis is a clever and sensitive writer who encourages us to examine the roads we didn’t take as well as the ones we did. Author of Sightlines, The Art of Salvage, and The Occupations of Muriel Thompson, as well as a number of award-winning essays, she shows us how mistakes, mishaps and pure chance can shape our lives, and yet there is always hope. Lives can be patched back together and repurposed in a process that brings deepened perception and appreciation.
November 7, 2020
I really enjoyed this book. Sylvie, in all her incarnations, is a determined, resourceful and diligent woman, often mystified by life, who gets tripped up by her own character defects and only sometimes manages to save herself from the repercussions. I loved watching her grow and mature in all her different contexts, and admired the freedom Leona Theis allowed herself by unanchoring Sylvie from the normal confines of time and space. Theis is a marvellous writer and her knack for locating the absolute perfect word or phrase kept me pausing to appreciate her talent. (“What, for instance, did πάθος, pathos, really mean? Press the word like a plum and meanings burst the sides.” p. 207) I think my favourite story was "What Erik Saw." It was funny, compassionate and perfectly turned to reveal aspects of Sylvie from the perspective of one who knows her almost better than she knows herself. Highly recommend.
January 25, 2023
Interesting premise about the decisions we make and how we live our lives.
December 22, 2020
Such a great read. Life's choices and lack of choices and how those impact us are explored through the many characters of Sylvie. I loved that not only does Sylvie's future change, but that her character changes too. So not only do we question what would have happened if... but who would we actually be with or without that person, event or decision in our life? Leona Theis writes her character(s) sharply and with great wit. And her prose is confident, eloquent and beautiful. I'm reading it for the second time!
November 28, 2020
An intriguing premise
What happens to the you that would have been if you had made different choices in your life? At one point Sylvie looks at three possibilities. We travel with her and see where each of the three choices take her. The stories diverge into further choices. The circumstances of her nine lives are all quite different buts of her remain the same throughout.
What happens to the you that would have been if you had made different choices in your life? At one point Sylvie looks at three possibilities. We travel with her and see where each of the three choices take her. The stories diverge into further choices. The circumstances of her nine lives are all quite different buts of her remain the same throughout.
March 28, 2021
This book is a collection of short stories, all based around a character named Sylvie. Each story is a different version of Sylvie, based on choices she makes, and different time periods. Some characteristics stay the same. The structure is really fascinating, and I loved the Saskatchewan (and Saskatoon!) setting.
December 23, 2022
Loved the weaving and re-weaving of possible lives for Sylvie.
Recommended for everyone who has ever thought, “What might have happened if I went left in that moment instead of right?”
Recommended for everyone who has ever thought, “What might have happened if I went left in that moment instead of right?”
February 1, 2023
I read this book as part of the Libby book club. I enjoy the concept of the Libby book club. It's an opportunity to have a shared experience online over books. Conceptually this was an interesting book. I can't say I really was interested in Sylvie which was a downer for me. I'm not sure if I would like Sylvie more if she was more like me or more relatable to me. I probably don't want Sylvie to be more like me because I don't think there's much to write about me. I guess she probably should have stood out more.
I'm still interested in looking at the book club questions and hope to see how others engaged with the book. I guess this was a parallel universe book and not a time travel book. I guess that's a timely topic and I hoped to learn more about the metaverse this year. I'm glad for the opportunity to participate in this virtual book club but can't say the book really spoke to me but maybe it will for someone else.
I'm still interested in looking at the book club questions and hope to see how others engaged with the book. I guess this was a parallel universe book and not a time travel book. I guess that's a timely topic and I hoped to learn more about the metaverse this year. I'm glad for the opportunity to participate in this virtual book club but can't say the book really spoke to me but maybe it will for someone else.
February 6, 2023
I had a difficult time with the writing when I first started reading and thought of stopping within the first few pages. However, I was curious about this main character and the idea of her different lives being explored so I chose to push on. It was an interesting and entertaining read, frustrating at times when considering the main character but in the end, we all live and make choices that could very well resemble those made by Sylvie. Perhaps that is where stems my frustration.
The story is simple, diverging timelines, nothing grandiose, down to earth and believable, vastly different from my regular reads, but made it to the end, to be disappointed. The story abruptly ends without any fireworks, quite in tune with the rest of the book.
The story is simple, diverging timelines, nothing grandiose, down to earth and believable, vastly different from my regular reads, but made it to the end, to be disappointed. The story abruptly ends without any fireworks, quite in tune with the rest of the book.
October 21, 2023
I started loving this book almost from the chapter 1999. Ot is here where I completely get what has been happening so far. How each decision a young and naive Sylvie takes make her a different life. However her inherent personalities are still there: she may steal a pack of salt or two here while she could have gone to jail for a serious shoplifting in another alternative life. Changing partners, cheating and being unfaithful is there, but in some lives she can stop herself and navigate through these urges. This is the only book that as soon as I finished it, I immediately went back to chapter one and started again!
5 stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
5 stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
May 7, 2021
This is one of those "alternate lives if different choices were made" stories, this one made more interesting to me because it's set in my local area (Saskatoon and small town Saskatchewan). Unfortunately, I didn't much like the character of Sylvie in any of her incarnations, so it was harder to love the book as a whole. I appreciated the branching tree illustration before the story of each timeline - made it easier to figure out what the difference was.
February 1, 2023
Advertised by my library as part of a Canada-wide book club!
I love the concept behind this book, I liked Leona Theis's writing, but I just found the execution .. boring? unrelatable? simply for a reader other than myself?
Unhappy marriages, hordes of children, kleptomania, drinking problems, cheating, etc. It definitely is of a type to so many other books written by so many other people about how life sucks but sometimes doesn't suck. Y'know?
I love the concept behind this book, I liked Leona Theis's writing, but I just found the execution .. boring? unrelatable? simply for a reader other than myself?
Unhappy marriages, hordes of children, kleptomania, drinking problems, cheating, etc. It definitely is of a type to so many other books written by so many other people about how life sucks but sometimes doesn't suck. Y'know?
February 1, 2023
I struggled through this book. Multiple timelines that form the 9 lives had me confused about which characters were in which timeline and I found it hard to follow at times. Not sure if that’s how it was written or just me that I couldn’t follow it. I also didn’t like the main character, found her to be a self centred spoiled brat who hurt other people in every timeline. Overall didn’t love it but it did have an interesting idea, and it almost seemed that she redeemed herself at the end.
January 28, 2023
I love the concept, but was disappointed in the execution. I didn't find any of Sylvie's lives very interesting. But maybe that's the lesson: We often wonder how life would have been if we'd chosen a different career or partner, but it wouldn't have made any difference because we would never be satisfied.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 31, 2023
3.5 ⭐️ rounded up! I really enjoyed the story and the authors descriptive style of writing was entertaining. I did find the jump to each timeline hard to follow and had to refer back a few times. I like the fact it’s a Canadian author, storyline based in Saskatchewan with many references to other parts of Canada. I’ll definitely look for other works by this author.
February 4, 2023
What if? We have all wondered: if I had taken that other path, at that juncture in my life, where might I be today? A tempting thought-plunge, and a delicious concept for a book, but other authors have done it better. Still, I ended up liking Sylvie, despite all the bad choices she made along the way.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 68 reviews