The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown- Hardcover: 336 pages
- Publisher: Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam (January 20, 2011)
- ISBN-13: 978-0399157226
Back-of-the-book blurb: The Andreas family is one of readers. Their father, a renowned Shakespeare professor who speaks almost entirely in verse, has named his three daughters after famous Shakespearean women. When the sisters return to their childhood home, ostensibly to care for their ailing mother, but really to lick their wounds and bury their secrets, they are horrified to find the others there. “See, we love each other. We just don’t happen to like each other very much.” But the sisters soon discover that everything they’ve been running from-one another, their small hometown, and themselves-might offer more than they ever expected.
She Is Too Fond of Books’ review: You’ve heard of The Weird Sisters, Eleanor Brown’s
outstanding debut. You’ve read other glowing reviews. You’ve seen it listed as a bestseller (#15 on New York Times fiction this week), and picked as a favorite (an IndieBound Next pick for February 2011, #1 on the Best Read List for Friday Reads February 11, 2011). If you haven’t yet read it, you’ve wondered “is The Weird Sisters really ALL THAT?”
The answer is a resounding YES.
While it’s true that all families are different and that characteristics of birth order, sibling relationships and reactions aren’t set in stone – Eleanor Brown captures one family that I’m thrilled to know, and, being the youngest of three daughters, found myself laughing aloud and nodding in recognition at some of the traits:
We see stories in magazines or newspapers sometimes, or read novels, about the deep and loving relationships between sisters. Sisters are supposed to be tight and connected, sharing family history and lore, laughing over misadventures. But we are not that way. … Who are these sisters who act like this, who treat each other as their best friends? We have never met them.
The voice is beautiful and true; it is the amazing collective voice of the three Andreas sisters. Brown shares their individual stories, but in the omniscient voice of the whole; and it’s a personal whole, blatantly honest, baring emotions in the no-hold-barred way of sisters
The family patriarch is a professor of Shakespeare at Barnwell, a small liberal arts college which is the economic base of the town. The somewhat eccentric Professor Andreas peppers conversation with snippets of Shakespeare, raising his daughters to be truly well-versed. Have no fear if you are not (as I am not) a student of Shakespeare; the quotes are naturally appropriate to the plot and serve only to enhance the characters of the Andreas family, they are not shoe-horned in, nor do they detract from the flow.
Our father once wrote an essay on the importance of the number three in Shakespeare’s work. A little bit of nothing, he said, a bagatelle, but it was always our favorite. … King Lear – Goneril, Regan, Cordelia. The Merchant of Venice – Portia, Nerissa, Jessica.
And us – Rosalind, Bianca, Cordelia.
The Weird Sisters.
…
But it is worth noting, especially now that “weird” has evolved from its delicious original meaning of supernatural strangeness into something depressingly critical and pedestrian …
The word [Shakespeare] originally used was much closer to “wyrd” and that has an entirely different meaning. ”Wyrd” means fate. And we might argue that we are not fated to do anything, that we have chosen everything in our lives, that there is no such thing as destiny. And we would be lying.
When Rosalind, Bianca, and Cordelia (Rose, Bean, and Cordy) return to Barnwell to care for their ailing mother, they fall right back into the behavioral patterns they held as children. Yet, they are no longer children, and it may be time for them to truly “grow up” and break out of these roles.
The Weird Sisters is highly recommended for anyone with a sibling (or two), anyone with a family which walks to the beat of their own drummer, and anyone who has faced personal disappointment and had re-adjust her plans. In short, this book is for you.
This is such a great review of a great book!
I have been slowly trying to decide whether or not this book is for me, and based on all the great reviews, and particularly your reaction to this one, I think I am going to go for it and give it a try. I love the fact that these are not your typical sisters. And the father that quotes Shakespeare also has me quite enthralled. Great review, Dawn!
This is the best book I’ve read so far this year, and you’ve done a great job of capturing some of why this I feel that way
.
I was so taken with how true the sibling relationships were in The Weird Sisters.
So glad you enjoyed this one, too! The relationship between sisters is so complicated, frustrating and rewarding, and Brown definitely captured that in her wonderful novel. Love that you incorporated photos of you and your sisters, too!
Great review!!! I loved this one too. 2011 is off to a great start!
I’ve got this one in my TBR pile. I can’t wait to get to it.
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I’m so excited about this book! I love that you included pictures of your own sisters in the review!
I’m looking forward to reading this one. Now if I could ignore all the other books clamoring for attention…
I have this one on audio and can’t wait to listen to it! Love your review and the pictures you added!
Can’t wait t read this one…. just as soon as the TBR Dare is over!
I’ve been reading all of the reviews lately and am really excited to get this one! I need to pick it up
I’m in total agreement with you. I just finished and loved it. One of my favorites. Loved the pictures of you and your sister.
I liked this one too. I have older sisters who are much older than me so we didn’t have that close sibling rivalry, but I still related to other aspects of sisterhood in the story.
[...] Book Review: *The Weird Sisters* by Eleanor Brown [...]
What an awesome review! I can’t wait to read this one. I have four sisters. I suppose I can relate. LOL
[...] Reviews: She Is Too Fond of Books; Caribou’s Mom; Devourer of Books; KellyVision; and tons more glowing reviews but I must cut [...]
[...] you read my review of The Weird Sisters, you know how much I enjoyed Eleanor Brown’s debut novel! It’s a [...]
[...] Weird Sisters, Eleanor Brown I’d been hearing the buzz about this book – and Dawn’s review at She Is Too Fond of Books convinced me to pick it up. And oh my, I loved it. The three sisters, all named after Shakespearean [...]
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There is so much inside of this book; a great story about family relationships and how they affect your life; a good story about coming home again; a little shakespeare thrown in for your literary pleasure and lastly – and most enjoyable to me – little nuggets of beautifully written passages that make you want to get out your highlighter and turn back the page so you will always know where to find them again.