(10)The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown

The Andreas sisters have grown up their whole lives in the shadows of Shakespeare. While other kids their age were vegging in front of the television, Rose, Bean, & Cordy were cutting their teeth on the works of Shakespeare. Their father is a professor at the local college, and therefore Shakespeare became the wise elder of the family. They turned to him for answers to all of their problems.

The Weird Sisters, named for the witches of Macbeth, are now in their late twenties and early thirties. Cordy is finally returning home after years of wandering aimlessly, but the family does not know that she is returning home pregnant and she is unsure of who is the father. Bean is returning home from New York after being fired from her job for embezzling. And Rose, the eldest daughter, is returning home in order to prepare for her marriage. Their timing couldn't be better, though, for as they all return home, their mother is diagnosed with breast cancer.

The Weird Sister tells the tale of three of them, back under their parents roof and trying to deal with the mess they have made of their lives, all the while dealing with the harsh reality that their parents are not immortal. Peppered with Shakespearean quotes and references, this book is the ultimate read for bibliophiles everywhere. The style of writing is quite unique. The narrator is an non-existent fourth sister. Someone who is intimately connected to each of the sisters, yet sees them for who they are and loves them anyway. That style of narration baffled me for a while, before I just decided to go with it. I kept expecting some "big announcement" of a fourth sister yet to be introduced to us. In the end I thought it was brilliant. The narration gave us incredible insight to the Weird Sisters, what they truly thought about each other, but most of all, the incredible strength of their bond as sisters.

I really, really enjoyed this book. It was hard for me to finish it because I didn't want to say "good-bye" to my new friends. Having grown up as a solitary book lover in a very large family, I really enjoyed seeing how much reading was a part of this family. As I said earlier, it was such an integral part of their family dynamic, I was almost jealous. You don't have to be a Shakespeare lover to enjoy this book, while Shakespeare is at the heart of the family, the bond of the Weird Sisters is at the heart of this book, and that is something most of us can relate to.