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| Plot Summary of My Sister Jill |
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St. Martin's, Apr 2003, 22.95, 224 pp.
ISBN: 0312312288
During World War II, Jack Wheatley was a Japanese prisoner of war for three and a half years. When he was released he went home, but was never the same. Since coming home, he and his wife Martha have six children. As the children grow up Jack is mentally abusive towards his family members while Martha is somewhat negligent being too tired to do more than care for her spouse. The oldest child, Jill raises the other five kids.
Over the years, each child finds his or her own way to avoid dad. Jill battles her father at times, but mostly hides in books and later in anti-war movements and sex. Johnnie, perhaps the recipient of the most abuse, is weak and sleeps away life. May designs clothing on any scrap of paper she finds. The twins Door and Mouse lean on each other. Only Christine can reach Jack as she loves his war stories, but even she often fails when he becomes obstinate and hard.
MY SISTER JILL is an insightful look at a dysfunctional family in which the father never fully recovers from his war years so the children suffer the consequences. The story line engages the reader who empathizes with the plight of the children, but scorn Martha for behaving pathetic and helpless in protecting anyone including herself. Thus the audience receives a taut heart wrenching character study that provides a powerful look at a family in trouble.
Harriet Klausner
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Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of My Sister Jill |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of book?
- thoughtful
Time/era of story
- present (2000-2010)
Kids growing up/acting up?
Yes
Kids:
- struggling to earn a living to survive
Family, struggle with
Yes
Struggle with:
- Father (or standin)
Is this an adult or child's book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Age group of kid(s) in story:
- high school
Parents/lack of parents problem?
- parental abuse
Loving/sexing?
- guy chasing
Main Character
Gender
- Male
Profession/status:
- small businessman
Ethnicity/Nationality
- British
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Main Adversary
Identity:
- none
Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings?
- 4 (a fair amount)
Europe
Yes
European country:
- England/UK
Style
Person
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- no torture/death
Unusual Style:
- a lot of flashback and forwards
- a lot of stream of consciousness
- No single main character?
Amount of dialog
- significantly more dialog than descript
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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