Book Review – The Weird Sisters
February 9th, 2012
One of my favorite things to do is read. There is nothing better than getting completely lost in a really good book. I’m always on the lookout for my next great read. Like any good Type-A personality, I tend to keep lists of books that I want to read. One book that has been on my list for the past year, is The Weird Sisters. So I jumped at the chance to read and review the book for BlogHer. And it did not disappoint!
The Weird Sisters, written by Eleanor Brown, is a coming-of-age novel about the complexity of families – especially the relationships between siblings. While the three main protagonists are sisters, I believe the relationships and themes explored can be universally applied to any family dynamic.
“Rose always first. Bean never first. Cordy always last. And if we don’t accept it, don’t see, like Shakespeare’s Weird Sisters did, that we cannot fight our family and cannot fight our fates, well, whose failing is that but our own? Our destiny is in the way we were born, in the way we were raised, in the sum of the three of us.”
The story begins with three Andreas sisters – Rosalind (Rose), Bianca (Bean) and Cordelia (Cordy) – returning to their parents’ home shortly after their mother is diagnosed with breast cancer. The sisters, each named for a character in a Shakespearean play, are not particularily close - in fact the book describes them as “estranged:”
“Sisters are supposed to be tight and connected, sharing family history and lore, laughing over misadventures. But we are not that way. We never have been, really, because our partnering was more for spite than for love…Our estrangement is not drama-laden – we have not betrayed one another’s trust, we have not stolen or fought over money or property or any of the things that irreparably break families apart. The answer for us is much simpler: See, we love one another. We just don’t happen to like one another much.”
The joy of this book is not only the story about the sisters and their journey to understand their own roles within the family, but it also lies in the way in which the author weaves the story. Utilizing a unique first-person plural approach, you are never quite sure which sisters are telling the story. Never having read a novel in this voice, it took a couple of chapters to embrace the flow but once I did I really enjoyed it. The author also called upon the words of Shakespeare to further develop and amplify the sisters. It was a fun and whimsical touch playing off of the sisters’ names and their father’s love of the Bard that added color and depth to the story.
One compelling theme explored throughout the book is the notion of one’s place or role within a family and whether or not these are permanent. It caused me to think about my family, and the role I have traditionally played as “the independent, self-sufficient daughter.” Did I chose this role for myself or was it thrust upon me because I am the oldest? Do I always have to play it or can I sometimes let my own hair down and be impulsive and carefree?
“Could people change? Or would we remain this way, forever and ever…These were the days, yes, when Rose felt as though she had been on this earth forever, since the dinosaurs at least, but she knew she was young. It seemed so early to have signed her whole life away, but it seemed so exhausting to change anything.”
What role do you play in your family? Have you always played that part or has your place evolved over time? Drop me a comment and let me know!
