We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves - Karen Joy Fowler

"Rosemary is now an only child, but she used to have a sister the same age as her, and an older brother. Both are now gone - vanished from her life. There's something unique about Rosemary's sister, Fern. And it was this decision, made by her parents, to give Rosemary a sister like no other, that began all of Rosemary's trouble."


This is a novel that is best read with as little pre-knowledge as possible. It starts out as a seemingly emotionally troubled college-age woman is telling a story involving her apparently dysfunctional family. Around 1/4 of the way through there is a "reveal" that totally changes the way you look at the novel.Although the change made the book a bit awkward and a little too fantastical at first, Fowler develops it.

A book definitely out of the mainstream that starts out as a conventional rite of passage told by an adult looking back on her childhood in the typical American family, with siblings, parents and grandparents. One is jerked out of this narrative by the 'twist' which has been highlighted as the main feature of the book, and which cannot be revealed as it acts as a significant spoiler. From this point onwards, the story proceeds in a more and more disturbing fashion, with the loss of siblings and the fragmentation of the family.

The author has created several memorable characters including the narrator, Rosemary, who is both endearing and irritating at the same time; her brother Lowell, idealistic and very driven; her self- introduced friend Harlow, certainly flaky; her mother, who struggles with depression; and her father, whose truly unpleasant character is revealed very early in the story.

I found this very disturbing book, and not just in its references to the way human beings have treated our primate brothers and sisters as merely experimental animals. It says much about modern family relationships.

So psychologically smart and sophisticated.I loved all the literary and psychology/science references.  So entertaining. Though the ending wasn’t perfect for me, it was okay and mimicked real life in its inability to have a fairy tale happy ending.  
 Unfortunately I could not relate to the characters and the choppy writing style! I wanted to like this book, and there were very interesting elements, but I couldn't connect to the way the story was told.

Age Rating 13+. Some brutal descriptions of animal cruelty within many industries that would be disturbing for younger readers.