Ron Charles
A family drama, gracefully costumed in academic garb and lit with warm comedy, 'tis a consummation devoutly to be wished…if you know a Stratfordian who's always quoting the Bard, get thee to a bookstore…Brown is such a clever writer, and she's written such an endearing story about sisterly affection and the possibilities of redemption, that it's easy to recommend The Weird Sisters.
—The Washington Post
Publishers Weekly
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. Sisters Rose (Rosalind; As You Like It), Bean (Bianca; The Taming of the Shrew), and Cordy (Cordelia; King Lear)--the book-loving, Shakespeare-quoting, and wonderfully screwed-up spawn of Bard scholar Dr. James Andreas--end up under one roof again in Barnwell, Ohio, the college town where they were raised, to help their breast cancer–stricken mom. The real reasons they've trudged home, however, are far less straightforward: vagabond and youngest sib Cordy is pregnant with nowhere to go; man-eater Bean ran into big trouble in New York for embezzlement, and eldest sister Rose can't venture beyond the "mental circle with Barnwell at the center of it." For these pains-in-the-soul, the sisters have to learn to trust love--of themselves, of each other--to find their way home again. The supporting cast--removed, erudite dad; ailing mom; a crew of locals; Rose's long-suffering fiancé--is a punchy delight, but the stage clearly belongs to the sisters; Macbeth's witches would be proud of the toil and trouble they stir up. (Jan.)
From the Publisher
Praise for The Weird Sisters
“Delightful.”—People
“Irresistible.”—The Boston Globe
“At once hilarious, thought-provoking, and poignant, this sparkling and devourable debut explores the roles that we play with our siblings, whether we want to or not. The Weird Sisters is a tale of the complex family ties that threaten to pull us apart, but sometimes draw us together instead.”—J. Courtney Sullivan, author of Friends and Strangers
“Even if you don’t have a sister, you may feel like you have one after reading this hilarious and utterly winsome novel. Eleanor Brown skillfully ties and then unties the Gordian knot of sisterhood, writing with such knowingness that when the ending came, and the three Andreas sisters--who had slunk home for a rest from themselves only to find to their horror their other two sisters there as well--emerge, I sighed the guilty sigh of pleasure and yes, of recognition.”—Sarah Blake, author of The Guest Book
“Get thee to a bookstore....Brown is such a clever writer, and she’s written such an endearing story about sisterly affection and the possibilities of redemption, that it’s easy to recommend The Weird Sisters. Take Polonius’s good advice and ‘read on this book.’”—The Washington Post
“Good sense and good humor...buoyant.”—The New York Times
“Delightful…Brown doesn’t make things easy on herself. She bestows distinct traces of prickliness, self-obsession, and irresponsibility on her women. They’re not storybook heroines but as susceptible to bad behavior as any of us. And she uses a first-person plural narrator—a collective we that speaks for every sister yet not any specific one—with a scope wide enough to view their inner turmoil and outer mistakes with wry understanding. The trick could have failed, yet it somehow doesn’t and pulls us into the heart of the family circle….That’s Brown’s great gift: She draws you in and makes you believe her weird sisters aren’t so weird after all.”—The Miami Herald
“Brown writes sweetly of the transition so many adults struggle to make before their parents’ eyes, from children to caretakers themselves.”—The Cleveland Plain Dealer
“Equal parts clever and heartfelt.”—Associated Press
“[A] fine debut novel...[Brown] has a crisp style and a flair for dialogue.”—The Columbus Dispatch
“Delightful and fascinating....A magnificent tapestry of a tale.”—The Sacramento Bee
“[A] charming debut novel…cleverly written from the sisters’ perspective...Though the book is named after witches in the play Macbeth, you need not be a Shakespeare scholar to fall in love with this feel-good story—or the bewitching sisters.”—Woman’s Day
“A page-turner from the start.”—Ladies’ Home Journal
“You don’t have to have a sister or be a fan of the Bard to love Brow’s bright, literate debut….The supporting cast—removed, erudite dad; ailing mom; a crew of locals; Rose’s long-suffering fiancé—is a punchy delight, but the stage clearly belongs to the sisters; Macbeth’s witches would be proud of the toil and trouble they stir up.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Lovely…This novel should appeal to Shakespeare lovers, bibliophiles, fans of novels in academic settings, and stories of sisterhood. The narration is a creative and original blending of the three ‘Weird Sisters’ as one.”—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.”—Booklist
“What a joy to read. What a VOICE. The Weird Sisters is family drama dissected by verbal scalpel. If with and language could protect against growing old, these bewitching sisters might never have to grow up.”—Helen Simonson, author of Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand
The Cleveland Plain Dealer
"Brown writes sweetly of the transition so many adults struggle to make before their parents' eyes, from children to caretakers themselves."
Library Journal
"Lovely...This novel should appeal to Shakespeare lovers, bibliophiles, fans of novels in academic settings, and stories of sisterhood. The narration is a creative and original blending of the three 'Weird Sisters' as one."
The Boston Globe
"Irresistible."
Kirkus Reviews
In a debut about growing up, secrets and failures are predictably resolved when a family crisis reunites three bright but unhappy siblings.
As the daughters of a Shakespeare scholar, the Andreas girls are no strangers to the Bard. Oldest Rosalind (known as Rose) is named after the heroine of As You Like It, Bianca (Bean) has the name of the tamed shrew's sister and daddy's girl Cordelia (Cordy) bears the name of King Lear's devoted youngest. Their "weird"ness refers to Macbeth, although the three are far from witch-like, just averagely bookish women grappling with their unusual upbringing and some dubious adult choices. Drawn home to Barnwell, Ohio, because of their mother's breast cancer, the sisters reassemble uneasily in their parents' house—footloose Cordy, now pregnant; self-hating, morally dubious Bean, sacked after embezzling from her New York employers; and overly dutiful Rose. Quirky and perky, Brown's narrative uses light comedy to balance the serious life issues. The family's habit of quoting Shakespeare at every turn is less amusing, and there's also the curious plural narrative voice—"our sister," "our parents,"—seemingly the collective point of view of all three daughters. The story itself is a lengthy account of the women facing their demons, assisted by saintly parents, friends and neighbors who offer jobs, reassurance and romance. All's well that ends well.
Readable, upmarket, non-mold-breaking escapism.
