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Book Summary and Reviews of The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown

The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown

The Weird Sisters

by Eleanor Brown

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  • Jan 2011, 336 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

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.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Starred Review. You don't have to have a sister or be a fan of the Bard to love Brown's bright, literate debut, but it wouldn't hurt ... Macbeth's witches would be proud of the toil and trouble they stir up." - Publishers Weekly

"[L]ovely debut novel ... should appeal to Shakespeare lovers, bibliophiles, fans of novels in academic settings, and stories of sisterhood." - Library Journal

"There are no false steps in this debut novel: the humor, lyricism, and realism characterizing this lovely book will appeal to fans of good modern fiction as well as stories of family and of the Midwest." - Booklist

"Readable, upmarket, non-mold-breaking escapism." - Kirkus

This information about The Weird Sisters was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

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Dianne

Sisterhood Exposed
This debut novel, The Weird Sisters, by Eleanor Brown captured my attention from page one and has stayed with me long after it's end.

The story tells of three sisters, Rosalind, Bianca, and Cordelia or Rose, Bean and Cordie, as they are known. Bean and Cordie return home after finding out their mother has cancer and that Rose is to be married. Although Rose was living nearby, she also returns home.
Each sister has additional reasons for coming home.

The parents are eccentric and loveable. Their father is a professor of Shakespeare, hence the girl's names, and their mother a lifelong homemaker. They are thrilled to have their girls back home. The whole family is avid readers and quoters of the bard. This makes for some entertaining family conversation.

The sisters fall back into old familiar sibling rivalry, which you need not be a sister to enjoy. The narrative is so unique. It is told in the third person, which is really the sisterhood itself. It is as if the sisterhood itself is a character. You will also fall in love with the town of Barnwell and it's residents.

In the face of adversity, each girl learns a little something about themselves, their sisters, their parents and even their hometown.

I consider this book to be like a modern day Little Women. I highly recommend it as a good read!

This is Eleanor Brown's first novel. She is a resident of Denver, CO, my hometown. I have contacted Eleanor and she is a very gracious author.

Dianne

Enchantment of Sisterhood
I absolutely loved this book. I was sad that it had to come to an end.

Each character of this story is a treasure. Not just the sister's or the family members, but all the town's people and the town itself. The narrative is so unique. It is told from a perspective that is almost a fourth sister or as if the sisterhood itself is a character.

Even if you are not a sister, you can not help but be drawn into this story and see that there is a fine line between sibling rivalry and mutual admiration. You may even find a bit of each sister in you. This story will also remind you of the daughter you are, your mother and maybe even the mother you are or might be.

I wish I could read it again for the first time.

Valerie B.

Which sister are you?
It took me until page 200 to realize that I was really Rose with intermittent splashes of Bean thrown in (ahh...those unforgettable college nights!). Due to my blended family upbringing, my birth order personality is a bit warped. Although I am technically the oldest as is Rose and I share her sense of responsibility and order, I became a middle child and therefore also developed a bit of the attention grabbing ways of Bean (Bianca).

This book will hold a treasured place on my weighty bookshelves and in my heart! If you have sisters, you must read this book and discover who you really are!

Elizabeth

Nostalgic and heartwarming
Three sisters, three different outlooks on life, three different opinions about working, three different attitudes concerning just about everything, but they all had the same reason for coming home.....their mother needed help because of her breast cancer.

Rose was the practical, organized sister, Bean was the attorney turned thief, and Cordy was still the spoiled child she always was. They all had some secret or concern as they returned to their childhood home.

Their childhood home was one of love, of books, and Shakespearean quotes....the entire family quoted Shakespeare as they spoke and thought nothing of doing so. None of the girls was ever without a book in her hands.

Just as in childhood, the adult lives of each sister went opposite ways in terms of interest and responsibility, but their love and concern for each other was evident. The emotions of the characters and the descriptions of situations especially during childhood flashbacks was perfectly depicted allowing the reader to experience the hominess of small town connections and the nostalgia of coming back to your roots.

You will enjoy each sister for her strengths and shortcomings, and you will admire their parents for their love of each other and for the love of reading they instilled in their daughters.

I really enjoyed this book...if you have sisters, you will cherish it and you will most likely be comparing these characters to see which sister you are!! If you don't have sisters, the bond between all the characters will "warm your heart" and have you thinking about your own family and sibling relationships. 5/5

P. S. The Three Witches or Weird Sisters are characters in William Shakespeare's play Macbeth (c. 1603–1607)...information taken from Wikipedia.

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Author Information

Eleanor Brown

Eleanor Brown's writing has been published in anthologies, magazines, and journals. She holds an M.A. in literature and lives in the Denver area.

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