Book Review: The Weird Sisters

This is a paid review for BlogHer but the opinions expressed are my own. Photo Credit: wonderpuggraphics

Eleanor Brown’s novel highlights three sisters who have all been beckoned home due to their mother’s illness. Yet the real reason for their return has to do with their own unique failures.

Rose, moves in with her parents when her fiancé decides to pursue his career in England. She doesn’t accompany him as she feels the need to care for her mother. Rose is an intelligent PhD with an unofficial offer at the local university. It is my opinion Rose never needed to care for her mother, as her father seemed capable. She also seemed to act as a second mother to her two younger sisters. Mt take was Rose hid behind these self-made responsibilities to avoid moving away from the safety of home. In the end Rose finally commits to living with her fiancé in England, I believe this is how Rose conquered her hurdle and finally began living her own life.

Bean returns home from New York after being fired. Bean’s morals are most questionable as she stole from her company and her level of promiscuity is just plain destructive. I thought Bean was the most lost of the sisters. She tied up her worth in the way she looked, the clothes she owned and the status she was continually pretending to have. Bean needed to learn she couldn’t run from her problems anymore and therefore finds herself as a librarian in her home town.  

Cordy, the baby of the family is a wonderer. Her bohemian lifestyle catches up with her by way of a positive pregnancy test. She returns home before her belly begins to grow. It takes months before she is able to confess her pending motherhood to her family. The idea of confessing failures in this family seems to be the painfully difficult theme of the book.  

The communication within the Andreas family is through quotes of Shakespeare. It was like the sisters along with their parents despite all the academic emphasis never learned how to talk to each other. Each sister was scared to admit the turns their lives had taken. This point struck me. I can understand the fear we have when we must admit our failures to the ones we love. It seems they were overwhelmed by the idea that their family wouldn’t hold them in the esteem they thought they should be seen in.

As one of three sisters, myself, this novel was relatable in a big way. I do wish we could have learned more about the parents. Brown goes into such depth as we learn about each sister, yet I kept wishing we knew why they were the way they are. The discussion continues over at BlogHer-http://www.blogher.com/bookclub/now-reading-weird-sisters