The Weird Sisters

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The Weird Sisters
Eleanor Brown
2011

The Summary
After spending years consciously avoiding Barnwell, their quiet Midwestern hometown, Bianca (curiously nicknamed Bean by her family) and Cordelia (Cordy) Andreas have returned home and rejoined their sister Rosalind (Rose) in caring for their ailing mother.

But this family reunion is far from happy.  Both Bean and Cordelia have been keeping secrets - and even responsible, dependable Rose isn't above keeping one or two of her own.

The Good
The Weird Sisters is a uniquely entertaining book that incorporates real life, the good and the bad, into a twisted tale of family and all the things that can be strange, go wrong, or just drives a sibling crazy.  Besides which, it's well-written and fairly easy to read.  Although the narrative can occasionally drag, it moves at a steady pace that makes for an enjoyable ride.

The Bad
The one thing I never understood about Eleanor Brown's book was the narrator.  While I give her credit for creating a unique narrator, I can't say it made the novel any better or even made me appreciate the work more.  You see, the narrator uses inclusive terms like "we" and "our," which makes this anonymous, omniscient being sound like one of the sisters.

But the narrator isn't.

Despite seeming to manifest as one of the sisters, the narrator remains decidedly separate - there within the sisters' midst but simultaneously not, almost like a collective consciousness that is all and none at the same time.

It's unconventional and interesting, but, more often, it's a confusing premise and an annoying literary tic because almost immediately you're flummoxed by the narrator and his/her/its relationship to the Andreas sisters.  As I said, the narrator seems to be of them but not - and it leaves you pondering over exactly who or what is telling the story and looking back to see what little tidbit of information you missed.

The Ugly
Life has a way of getting away from you, as all of the Andreas sisters discover - and, sometimes, it doesn't always go straight.  For both Bean and Cordelia, the consequences are especially tough to face.

Additionally, I should mention that the sisters' father is a scholar of Shakespeare.  As such, he liberally quotes Shakespeare and consistently avoids giving a straight answer when he can use a line of poetry or monologue from Hamlet - and its an almost unnatural quirk passed down to his daughters.  It's an annoying habit, and it doesn't always make any real sense.