The Accidental Bond: The Power of Sibling Relationships - Hardcover

Merrell, Susan

3.38

13 ratings by Goodreads

9780812922110: The Accidental Bond: The Power of Sibling Relationships

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0812922115 ISBN 13: 9780812922110

Publisher: Crown, 1995

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A compelling exploration of "accidentally bonded" brothers and sisters and how this relationship profoundly affects adult lives, this book raises tantalizing questions about how future loves, friendships, and relationships with co-workers are guided by past relationships with brothers and sisters.

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Review:

Journalist Merrell, drawing on interviews with adult siblings as well as research from leading psychologists and social scientists, reveals that our sibling relationships that were determined in childhood influence our lives in often unsuspected and startling ways. No matter what kind of relationship we now have with our siblings, our histories with them exert a profound effect on our current relationships with lovers, friends, coworkers, even our own children. Understanding that bond can give us fresh insights into the adults we have become.

From Library Journal:

Although both of these books are about sibling relationships, the similarity ends there. Foster, who teaches nonfiction writing at the University of Iowa, has pulled together 20 diverse essays from some of today's best-known female writers. Contributors to this volume include bell hooks, Robin Behn, Letty Cottin Pogrebin, and Joy Williams. The essays, while all centering on the themes of sisterly relationships, run the literary gamut. Fanciful fiction pieces are included, as are straightforward autobiographical anecdotes and a couple of critical essays. Any library with a demand for contemporary women's literature should have this collection. Merrell's book, on the other hand, is a journalist's psychoanalytic look at the dynamics of all sibling relationships. Based on in-depth interviews, this work tries to explain the hidden forces that bring siblings together and push them apart. The case studies showcase a variety of familial situations, including relationships between twins and half-siblings and the special bond between a special-needs brother and his caretaker sister. The book suffers from too many diversions; Merrell's long asides interrupt her narrative flow. Despite this organizational flaw, her book is a worthwhile addition to most public and undergraduate libraries because of the author's extensive and enlightening research.?Pamela A. Matthews, Missouri Western State Coll., St. Joseph
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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