The three sisters. The Shakespeare. The humor. The language. The fluidity of the story. The reading habits. The growth of the characters. The cancer. The bread. The strong foundation of the family. -- These are just a few of the things that connected me to Eleanor Brown's The Weird Sisters.
"We wear our names heavily. And though we have tried to escape their influence, they have seeped into us, and we find ourselves living their patterns again and again."
Three sisters, daughters of a Shakespearean scholar, all so different, yet so much the same. Rose (Rosalind - As You Like It) is the eldest, the most responsible, the glue that holds the family together. Bean (Bianca - Taming of the Shrew) is the middle sister, and carries all the burdens that comes with her title. Cordy (Cordelia - King Lear) is the baby of the family, the prettiest, the most doted on. When their mother is diagnosed with breast cancer, they all come home to help, but what they are really doing is running away from their own secrets.
"Lions make leopards tame...Yea, but not change his spots. Will alone could not make Rose brave, could not make Bean honest, could not make Cordy sensible. Weren't we proof of this sad sisterhood, bound as much by our failures as by our hopes?"
Eleanor Brown weaves Shakespeare's words through her novel seamlessly. Each member of the family quotes "our boy Bill" as easily as breathing. As much as I revere Shakespeare, can quote my favorite passages, and kneel at the altar of bardolatry, I can only wish I could blend his words with mine this way.
I hope the Shakespeare doesn't scare readers away from The Weird Sisters. Many of the quotes Brown uses are familiar to most people who have a basic acquaintance with Shakespeare; but even if not, the poetry adds to the story, enchancing her words, regardless of whether you can tell which play its from, or which character said it.
The true test was how Brown's own prose was just as quotable. Her voice stands up, strong against the Bard's, translating it for those who find him an enigma of rhymes. The prose forced me to read slower, to appreciate the English language - from both the 16th and 21st centuries. I'm sure one of the reasons why I read so slowly was simply because I didn't want the book to end!
I find such joy reading about characters who love to read themselves. Rose, Bean and Cordy's life is surrounded by books, and I can imagine that Eleanor Brown's is too, especially after reading this passage:
"We think, in some ways, we have all done this our whole lives, searching for the book that will give us the keys to ourselves, let us into a wholly formed personality as though it were a furnished room to let. As though we could walk in and look around and say to the ray-haired landlady behind us, "We'll take it."
I can't say that I've found the book that will give me the key to myself yet, but I can say that I connected with The Weird Sisters on so many levels. It really is the book I wish I had written myself.
Bravo to Eleanor Brown - I'm still amazed that this is her debut novel. I can't wait to see what she comes up with next!
I highly recommend The Weird Sisters to my readers. Buy it in hardcover and own it forever. I'm looking forward to reading it again! You can expect to see this book high up on my list of Top Ten for 2011.
Synopsis (from Penguin):
A major new talent tackles the complicated terrain of sisters, the power of books, and the places we decide to call home.
There is no problem that a library card can't solve.
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.
Book Extras:
The Weird Sisters - Penguin page
Reading Group Guide
Eleanor Brown Website
About the Book:
Hardcover: 336 pages
Publisher: Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam (January 20, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0399157220
ISBN-13: 978-0399157226
Eleanor Brown's writing has been published in anthologies, magazines, and journals. She holds an M.A. in Literature and works in education in South Florida but will be living in the Denver area, Colorado at pub date. The Weird Sisters is her first novel.
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2 comments:
This sounds like a book any level of reader, from new to seasoned, can enjoy, relate to and celebrate. I'm looking forward to the day I open its cover and began to read about the enchanting Weird Sisters esp. as they quote their "boy Bill" (love that!)
I enjoyed your review! Thank you.
That's so funny you say you had written this book.. that's sort of how I felt, like that is EXACTLY how I hope to write one day! I loved this book too! And agree that the Shakespeare should NOT scare anyone away!
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