A Brilliant and Unusual Story. We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler

 This has been sitting on my shelves for a long time so it is the first book that I am reviewing for the Rose City Reader The TBR 22 in 2022 Challenge2022.

This is a brilliant, unusual and moving story, but I also found it profoundly depressing. At the risk of being considered 'light,' I much preferred the Jane Austen Book Club. I am also not keen on reading miseerable novels at the moment (except for war novels), because the times are bad enough.

Rosemary, the main character, lives a happy life with her family on a farm until she is five when she is suddenly sent away to her grandmother. When she comes back, her sister is gone and her parents are disturbed about the situation. They no longer live on the farm, her mother is depressed, and her father drinks a lot. Her brother has trouble dealing with her sister's disappearance, and eventually disappears too.

When Rosemary goes to university, she meets a 'wild girl' and her brother returns, bringing things to a head. She has to deal with her past, the truth about why her brother left, and choose her own path in life. Rosemary is a compelling and likeable character with a lot of courage.

This was a strange and disturbing story. It's worth reading, but I won't read it again, and I will give it away. However, I want to read more novels by Karen Joy Fowler.