In Karen Joy Fowler’s new book, We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, narrator Rosemary Cooke begins her story in the middle, when she is pulled into a kerfuffle and disturbs the peace in the cafeteria of her California university. After her arrest, Rosemary’s father solves the immediate problem. But he exacts payment by requiring her to return home to Bloomington, Indiana for Thanksgiving. There she uncomfortably spends time in the house with her distant father, depressive mother and the shadows of her missing twin and older brother.
In an effort to explain the dysfunction of her home, Rosemary tells her life story. She describes the people surrounding her during her early years. They include her twin Fern, her brother Lowell, her scientific father, her nurturing mother and loads of college students. She tells about her special symbiotic relationship with her sister and the warmly fun atmosphere of her home. About eighty pages into the novel, the reader learns that her twin is actually a chimpanzee. Then at age five, Rosemary’s sent to spend some time with grandparents in Indianapolis. There’s no new baby upon her return. Rather, Fern is gone with no explanation. This quiet disappearance affects each character differently and cracks the bonds of the family. The reader doesn’t learn what actually happened to Fern until late in the novel.
Based on an actual psychological experiment at IU (that amazingly was one of several such experiments in various locations at the time) and its effects on a family, this novel smartly fictionalizes the situation. It makes one ponder what it means to be human and examines how people deal with extremely difficult situations. The novel also left me wondering why parents would ever decide to risk their children in such an experiment.
Written in an easy to read and interesting style, We Are All Completely Besides Ourselves was hard to put down. Read the book and discuss it at Bookmamas, 9 S. Johnson, on Wednesday, March 26 at 7 p.m.
