Review of The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown

The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown is one of Spring’s hot new releases.  When I picked up the book, I had a couple of fears.  First, I thought it would be just another dull, depressing family drama.  I have enough family baggage in my own life.  Why would I want read about this family when I barely want to be part of my own? 

My other reservation about this book is that I suspected it was Chick Lit being marketed as literary fiction.  Why should I fear Brown’s novel is over-hyped chick lit?  Because putting Shakespeare in stock characters' mouths won't make it a “serious literary work".  First, we have Cordy, the youngest sister, a wandering free-spirit who sleeps around and can’t settle down.  We have Bianca (aka Bean), the middle sister, a shopaholic who steals to support her clothes addiction, drinks fancy cocktails in NYC clubs, and who also sleeps around.  Finally, we have Rosalind, the eldest sister, who is an approaching-forty, dowdy-feeling professional woman who can’t let go of her control issues.  Brown gives us three Shakespearean-monikered characters, each of whom represents an archetype in the Chick Lit world. I refer you to an article called Bad Chick Lit Novel Clichés.  Brown includes 4 of the five Chick Lit situations in her novel: the shoe addiction, the surprise pregnancy, the sister’s wedding, and the “OMG, I’m turning 30!” crisis.  But don’t be put off Brown's novel yet – read on.

King Lear - A Cautionary Tale for the Aging?

King Lear allotting his kingdom to his daughters by Julia Margaret Cameron, 1872

I admit it.  I haven’t read any Shakespeare since college, and that was (deep breath) nearly 20 years ago.  I’ve read a good deal of The Bard in my time, but, somehow, King Lear escaped my attention.  Book Phantom has remedied that.  When I began the play, I confess, the language was challenging.  I had to relearn how to read good Will.  I found it helpful to read aloud, because Shakespeare just sounds so darn good.  This exercise took me back to eleventh grade English in high school.  My teacher, Ms. Thomason, god bless her, had great taste in literature.  I give her full credit for instilling an appreciation of respectable reading.  Anyway, whenever we read plays aloud in class, Ms. Thomason almost always chose me to read the lead female parts.  That year I was Hedda Gabler, Medea, Antigone, and Lady Macbeth.  Either I was the only kid in class who could halfway read aloud, or Ms. T was trying to keep me from chatting up my neighbor across the aisle.  Nonetheless, I loved every minute of it, and this experience served me well when I read King Lear.

            Of all Shakespeare’s plays I could have chosen, why did I choose Lear?  Perhaps it’s because I am the youngest of three sisters, and I related to Cordelia.  Also, it seems so many books and movies reference Lear (A Thousand Acres comes to mind), and I needed to know more.  I was not disappointed – the word craft, the drama, the villains, the heroes, the tragedy – all timeless.