We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves: Shortlisted for the Booker Prize

Karen Joy Fowler

Mar 2014 · Serpent's Tail

About this ebook

'Wise, provocative and wildly endearing' Guardian
'Readably juicy and surreptitiously smart' Barbara Kingsolver
THE MILLION-COPY BESTSELLER
A Meghan Markle Book Recommendation

Rosemary doesn't talk much, and about certain things she's silent. She had a sister, Fern, her whirlwind other half, who vanished from her life in circumstances she wishes she could forget. And it's been ten years since she last saw her beloved older brother Lowell.

Now at college, Rosemary starts to see she can't go forward without going back to the time when aged five, she was sent away from home to her grandparents and returned to find Fern gone.

It was Rosemary's parents who began all of the trouble - isn't it always? But, dear reader, exactly how they did it is a twist you'll have to discover for yourself.

Ratings and reviews

Good premise which could have made an interesting story but it was just annoying. The characters were unlikeable and the writing style pretentious and the plot twist 'smug'.

Everybody in this book seems to have a miserable life, yet none of the reviews reveals that fact. It's all about the "twist". I'm saying the twist isn't worth the misery.

I enjoyed this book, and it is a fantastic read. I was expected to be floored by it but this did not happen for me. I would love to read the story of Rosemary's brother.

About the author

Karen Joy Fowler is the author of three short story collections and seven novels, including the forthcoming Booth. We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2014, won the PEN/Faulkner Prize and has sold over half a million copies.
www.karenjoyfowler.com