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Jump to navigationJump to searchWe Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler (view source)
Revision as of 14:06, 1 September 2014
, 14:06, 1 September 2014no edit summary
Rosemary's childhood is blighted by the disappearance of her sister, Fern. Rosemary went to stay with her grandparents and, on her return Fern was no longer there. Curiously enough, her mother and father don't speak of it. The knock on effect was the angry departure of Rosemary's older brother Lowell whom she also misses. As she grows to adulthood, Rosemary remembers trying to come to terms with this, the damage that being a daughter of a psychologist has wrought and the revealed secrets that will finally make sense of it all.
[[:CatergoryCategory:Karen Joy Fowler|Karen Joy Fowler]] is the American literary fiction/SF/fantasy author who made a best seller about a book club discussing Jane Austen which eventually spawned a film. (Both called ''The Jane Austen Book Club'' oddly enough.) It was therefore with great eagerness I cracked this novel open, described by Son Number 2 as one of the lighter Man Booker 2014 long-list offerings. It may be light but for me the attraction is the intrigue about the circumstances that would make a small child disappear and encourage parents embrace silence on the subject as if she hadn't existed.
Karen also realises that this is a huge selling point and gently beckons us via Rosemary's first person narrative with hints and subtle suggestions that keep the pages turning. The time frame jumps back and forth as this middle child, reveals the story piece by piece in an order designed for the greatest dramatic effect, leading to the now famous page 77.
