Så länge du är min syster

by Peo Bengtsson

Bandet mellan William och Betty har alltid varit starkt. De två syskonen fick klara sig själva redan som barn, när föräldrarna svek. Det gick faktiskt bra – ja, över förväntan – men som vuxna har de båda svårt med sina relationer. William har en affär med en gift kvinna. Han vet att han borde avstå, men det förbjudna lockar. Betty däremot tröttnar alltid på sina förhållanden så fort förälskelsefasen är över.

Men när Betty träffar den karismatiske Christian, faller hon pladask. Sakta men säkert glider syskonen isär. Christian vill ha Betty för sig själv, vilket får dramatiska konsekvenser. Frågan är om syskonkärleken går att rädda?

350 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2014

Reviews

[Catherine N · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fin historia om syskon- och familjerelation.

Citat jag kommer ta med mig ”Det spelar ingen roll var vi kommer ifrån, eftersom det enda som återstår är vår framtid”.

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Det är som pappa sa," säger jag. "Att våra rötter inte växer så djupt."

William and Betty have always had each other. Brother and sister, they grew up with parents in an unhappy relationship that ended badly. Their father left them suddenly, picking up his things and left one day. Their mother's way of dealing with her grief: alcohol. To top it off, as William and Betty grew, their mother eventually found a new man whom she went to live with, leaving William and Betty to fend for themselves as teenagers. When she too left, William and Betty were left at the house they grew up in, with a mother who provided food and money, but no love. It's now years later, William and Betty have moved away, but when their mother is found dead in their old house, old wounds are ripped open.

Told from William's POV, we learn about his and Betty's lives in the presence. Betty, who has always sought attention and never getting enough, never quite believing when people tell her they care for her and love her. William, who's stuck in an affair with a married woman whom he might be developing deeper feelings for. They get by, almost well even, but when Betty meets a new man, one that seems to actually hold her attention, William feels more and more lost.

Och familjen gick sönder för länge sedan, det vet jag ju. Skillnaden nu är att det inte längre finns någon lust att försöka reparera det som är trasigt.

The story moves along slowly with William reflecting on his youth, his relationship to his sister, his broken family, and his role in all this. While William's inner reflection are throughout, they are also repetitive. It might be a testament to how confused he is, how unsure he is of everything and needs to repeat it to himself, but for me, I found it useless. Some of the repetitions are character traits that are never (or rarely) shown through their actions, and thus I came to believe the author wanted his characters to have these traits, but didn't know how to show that the characters had these traits.

While the story does move along slowly, there are moments when it makes huge jumps. For one, when Betty meets Christian (the new boyfriend), we learn that she does so and then in the next chapter they have been together for weeks and are considering moving in together. Or between other chapters, there are sometimes several months ahead. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but many times in this book, the jumps cut out events that I would've found useful to a deeper understanding, especially of the secondary characters.

I did like some parts of the story, but I felt detached from the overall story. William was a well-developed character, but the story was so centered on his relationship with his sister (and other family members) and I needed Betty and his parents to have more depth to them. With the irregular jumps in the story I never got a good grip on them and had to rely on what the author or William's POV told me which unfortunately wasn't enough.

[Emma V · Rating 2 out of 5]

Den började bra sen tappade den mig efter halva boken och jag kände att jag inte alls brydde mig om hur det gick för karaktärerna. En tvåa får den ändå för att den var lättsam och enkel att följa med i.

[Beate · Rating 5 out of 5]

En riktigt stark - och rolig - berättelse om syskonen William och Betty, som bara har varandra. Jag grät och skrattade om vartannat. Tycker att det är fascinerande att växla så mellan olika stämningar som den här författaren gör.

400 sidor. Ändå för kort.