Why reading novel The Weird Sisters is a must in your 20s

By Corissa Mosher on October 4, 2015

 

The Weird Sisters novel cover

Photo from http://www.eleanor-brown.com/the-weird-sisters/

 

The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown is a must-read for all 20-something college students. For all of us who do not know where our life is headed or what we want to do when we grow up, The Weird Sisters will feel like a blessing. The Weird Sisters shows us it is okay to not have your life completely together, everything will work out in the end. The Weird Sisters tells the readers you do not have to have life all figured out, because does anyone, at any age, ever figure life out completely?

As Brown is a contributor to CrossFit Journal and author of WOD Motivation, this novel is certainly something different for her but she hit the nail head on. Brown even landed  herself a spot among the New York Times bestselling authors with this book. Brown certainly deserves the bestselling title because this is hands-down one of the best written novels I have read. Her writing is not comparable that of any other author I have read. For instance, the narration and point of view is beyond unique. It is told as if the three main characters are speaking aloud the story.  In the beginning of the book, when introducing one of the sisters to the readers, the narration goes as follows: “To us, however, she would always be bean,” as if it is all three sisters narrating. It is this and many other literary genius moves that make this novel so captivating and original, you do not want to set this book down.

This novel follows the misfortunes of the Andreas sisters: Rose, Bean, and Cordy. These three sisters move back home, supposedly to help their sick mother, and end up slowly pick up the pieces of their lives while back. The sisters all struggle with something whether it be pregnancy, stealing, or unwillingness to move on but they each overcome their personal obstacles it with the help, support, and love of their family, neighbors, and friends back home. This novel proves home is where the heart is.

Because the sisters’ father is a professor in Shakespearean studies the whole family is very well versed in Shakespearean stories. The three sisters were even named after the characters within Shakespeare’s many plays. Rose is named after Rosalind from As You Like ItBean is named after Bianca from The Taming of the Shrew, and Cordy is named after Cordelia from King Lear. The Andreas family is so well versed in Shakespeare, that much of their dialogue is quoting or referring to Shakespeare plays, which at first I thought was distracting and completely unnecessary but as the novel went on this grew on me quite a bit. I now think this added to the quirkiness of the characters and overall narration. Not only do the sisters quote the plays, but they seem to mirror their Shakespearean parallels, their names fit their personalities.

Once I finished the novel, I wanted to read more novels by Brown. However, since this is her first novel, it looks like I will have to wait for The Light of Paris to make its debut next summer.

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