Title: The Weird Sisters
Author: Eleanor Brown
Publisher: Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam
Publication Date: January 20, 2011
Hardcover: 336 pages
ISBN: 9978-0399157226
Genre: Literary Fiction

From the Publisher:

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.

My Review:

Confession is good for the soul and so I confess I am a tremendous fan of Shakespeare which made reading The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown all that more delightful.  For my fellow readers who do not get the thrill from reading Shakespeare that I do, never fear, the book is about so very much more including a family to which I could not readily relate not having a sister, yet adored for all their quirks.  Brown tells the story of the Andreas family headed by Dr. James Andreas, professor of Shakespeare at Barnwell College, in Barnwell, Ohio.  When the sisters learn their mother has breast cancer they all return home, although each has a reason that is not quite rooted solely in helping their mother out.  Rosalind (Rose) has stayed near home, and has a fear of leaving, which should she marry her affianced she will need to not only leave Barnwell, but the country. Next up is Bianca (Bean) who owes a considerable amount of money due to a problem at her former place of employment, which brings me to the youngest sister, Cordelia (Cordy) who needs a place to live, especially now that she is pregnant.  Brown not only gave her three main characters names after heroines in Shakespearean plays, she also gave them lives that could rival Shakespeare’s plays.  The Weird Sisters is an absolute delight to read, Brown’s exquisite prose flows off the pages and soothes the readers mind while the complex relationships amongst the sisters and individually will keep the reader not only engaged but mesmerised, wanting to know how the three will manage to deal not only with their personal issues but as a family unit.  I do not have sisters or daughters and yet I adored this delightful, insightful, and at times extraordinarily deep and complex book on relationships.  I would not hesitate to recommend The Weird Sisters to any reader or discussion group.

About the Author:

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.

For more information visit Eleanor’s website and blog. Eleanor Brown may also be found on Twitter and Facebook.

For more reviews of the book, please follow the Book Tour.

I received a complimentary ARC of The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown from TLC Book Tours to be a part of this tour and offer my honest review of the book. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned book.