Friday, November 9, 2012

The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown

The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown

The Weird Sisters is a truly weird, and aptly named novel. And I loved it.

Written in third person possessive, it took a little getting used to.  As the story unfolded, the unusual tense became natural and well suited to the story.  Weird.

Three very different sisters, Rose, Bean and Cordy all make their way back home when their mother is diagnosed with breast cancer.  Rose is the eldest, and feels it's her duty to take charge of everything.  She had earned her PhD and holds a professorship at a nearby university, never having left the comforts of her parent's home.  Bean, the lively party girl couldn't wait to leave small town life for the big city.  The fast and expensive lifestyle however caught up with her, forcing her back home.  Returning to care for her mother served as a cover up for the trouble she'd created.  Cordy was a wanderer, never sure what bed she'd sleep in or where the next meal would come from.  She loved the freedom, but she too had a secret that drove her home.

One thing all the sisters had in common was the love of books.  Their father teaches literature at the small college in town.  He speaks in lines from Shakespeare leaving his daughters trying to figure out what he is truly trying to say. Their mother suffers silently.

The author's talent at creating extraordinary characters is amazing.  Each sister has a distinct personality.  The parents are so immersed in each other, the girls exist in the outskirts of their private world. Throughout the novel the characters remain true to themselves in all the interactions between them.  An amazing feat in a complex story.

The Weird Sisters was weird.  But also wonderful.


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