Bufflehead Sisters

Fascinating 2009-08-05

Reviewer: Mrs. K. Milner

From the start I was captivated by the character of Sophie. While Janet, her bufflehead sister, is dealt a good hand in life, Sophie most definitely is not. Though she becomes somewhat unbalanced, I couldn't help but like Sophie. I found her to be brave, honest, and dangerous (mostly to herself).

This is not a book for the faint-hearted as the author deals with many emotive subjects, but it is a book that makes you think. Mostly it makes you think about relationships, questioning what is appropriate and what is not.
The whole read is riveting and I found it practically impossible to put down. Now, I'm waiting impatiently for the sequel

Plodding and pedestrian 2009-07-19

Reviewer: Bigreader

I found this a disappointing read lacking in sparkle. Populated by stock characters who never come alive it left me not caring what happened to any of them.

If a book without much of a storyline is to succeed the writing needs to be considerably better than the self-indulgent and self-conscious prose found here.

Gut-wrenchingly immediate. 2008-04-10

Reviewer: L. Poole

This book is highly recommended to lovers of great writing. Delois has an assurance in her narrative voice that pulls you right into the story and holds you there till the last page.
The book is narrated by Janet, one half of the Bufflehead Sisters of the title. She is clever but naive, young but old beyond her years, as she looks back with nostalgia on the loss of an innocence she discovers never really existed.
The other Bufflehead, Sophie, is the real star of this book. Trust me, you will never forget her. A triumphant creation, a sort of female cross between Holden Caulfield and Randle P McMurphy, with a bit of Janis Joplin thrown in for good measure. Some of the verbal switchback between Sophie and Janet's mother is quite magnificent.
Add a few twisted versions of American male stereotypes, and some prose that flies like a great rustle of poetic wings, and you have a book that is a beautiful, unexpected gift to the world of literature.

Highly Recommended 2008-02-08

Reviewer: Mark Hadley

From the start, I was drawn into this. While other characters orbit around the (mostly) grounded Janet, the reader is offered a glimpse behind the curtains of middle America into other people's stories. Sophie is fascinatingly unhinged and the influence she has on those around her profound.

I didn't want it to end and can now only wait for the follow up.

An enchanting and compelling take on human relationships 2008-01-23

Reviewer: N. D. O'Brien

From their childhood years through to their adulthood, the two girls who are centre stage in this enchanting story take the reader through a whole host of human emotions. The story is told through the eyes of Janet, a girl denied a biological sibling, and who dreams of having a sister. Fate brings her Sophie, an intriguing child with inexplicable powers of perception and foresight, and a disturbed family background, and soon the girls' lives are inextricably linked.

Their characters, if not their deep-seated love for each other, diverge as they grow older. Janet, with her Catholic upbringing, remains demure, while Sophie runs amok with her voracious sexual appetite and her cavalier attitude towards life. This sparks friction between the girls and within Janet's family. Her supposedly upstanding pious father and her intolerant mother shun Sophie, discouraging Janet from any involvement with her. Sophie's outrageous behaviour culminates in betrayal, which threatens to destroy the girls' relationship.

Amidst love, lust, envy, anger, passion and resentment, forgiveness and compassion ultimately prevail, and the reader is felt with many wonderful memories and much to think about long after the book has finally been put down. Janet's narrative voice is perfectly balanced throughout; she entertains the reader with her razor-sharp and amusing observations, most memorably of the adult behaviour she observes as a child. This is a beautifully written and skilfully constructed page-turner.

Nick O'Brien