The Weird Sisters - by Eleanor Brown (Paperback)

About the Book

A major new talent tackles the complicated terrain of sisters, the power of books, and the places we decide to call home. 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."

Book Synopsis

The beloved New York Times bestseller from acclaimed author Eleanor Brown about three sisters who love each other, but just don't happen to like each other very much.

Three sisters have returned to their childhood home, reuniting the eccentric Andreas family. Here, books are a passion (there is no problem a library card can't solve) and TV is something other people watch. Their father--a professor of Shakespeare who speaks almost exclusively in verse--named them after the Bard's heroines. It's a lot to live up to.

The sisters each have a hard time communicating with their parents and their lovers, but especially with one another. What can the shy homebody eldest sister, the fast-living middle child, and the bohemian youngest sibling have in common? Only that none has found life to be what was expected; and now, faced with their parents' frailty and their own personal disappointments, not even a book can solve what ails them...

Review Quotes

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

About the Author

Eleanor Brown is the New York Times bestselling author of the novels Any Other Family, The Weird Sisters and The Light of Paris, and the editor of the anthology A Paris All Your Own. She lives with her family in Colorado.