Sister Crazy, by Emma Richler, is a novel comprised of seven interrelated
stories narrated by the main character, Jemima Weiss. The novel is about Jem growing up as a third child in a family of
five, with a Jewish father and Christian mother, living several years after
World War II in Britain. While the
stories are all interconnected, each story could stand alone as an individual
work in its own right. In each story,
Richler provides the reader with a perspective about how Jem relates to her
family, her place in her family, and the external world.

Jem’s
siblings, from oldest to youngest, are Ben, Jude (Jem) Harriet and Gus. Jem is closest to her older brother, Jude,
while Ben and Gus figure in only as minor characters. Her younger sister, Harriet, is a character that Jem feels
protective over in her childhood, but becomes Jem’s source of strength and
comfort in adulthood. Both of Jem’s
parents seem mythical and mysterious when portrayed through the eyes of young
Jem, but they are loving and caring parents nonetheless.

Despite Jem’s seemingly well-adjusted family
and solid upbringing, Jem suffers from depression and an overwhelming desire to
cut herself, which she often acts upon. Richler doesn’t ever really provide a satisfactory explanation as to the
origins of Jem’s emotional distress, as the circumstances that Jem is living in
appear to be rather happy, if not idyllic. Jem has not been subject to abuse in any form, and the model of her
family exhibits no more turmoil than the ordinary chaos and friction that
occurs in a typical large family.

Richler’s narrative voice fluctuates
widely. She can, at times, create a
spell that pulls the reader completely into the story. Conversely, she is also capable of over
scrutinizing small topics, dissipating the reader’s interest in the story as
quickly as a vanishing fog. Where the
narrative fails, it seems that this is a result of Richler holding back; it is
as though she is approaching some sort of truth, but stops short. In addition, aside from Jem and Jude,
Richler’s characters never seem to be fully realized. Jem’s parents and other siblings remain two dimensional, lacking
the character development to bring them completely to fruition. Sister Crazy does have some very
engaging and genuinely poignant moments, although the inconsistency of them may
not be enough to sustain the reader throughout the course of the novel.

© 2002 Libby Fabricatore

Libby Fabricatore lives on Long Island,
NY. She spends her time struggling to find her identity and skeptically
examining the expectations placed on her by society. She currently bartends in the
hope of saving enough money to go to graduate school.

Categories: Fiction