We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves

Karen Joy Fowler writes a unique story not just about relationships and family dynamics, but about a chimp named Fern who was a daughter, a sister, and a science experiment.

      While the book did not grab me at the beginning, and I had a hard time getting through the first half of the book, I was intrigued. So, I continued. Once Rosemary’s brother, Lowell, finds her for a brief visit, the story becomes more dynamic with an added level of complexity and mystery. This is also when Rosemary, the narrator, shares more of her story growing up with Fern – their escapades, their love, their separation.

     The change in time period was difficult to keep straight. The gaps in time between parts of the story left me wondering about the context of the segment I was reading.  Rosemary starts with the middle of the story, and then I was never really sure where she (nor I) was in her story. In a few instances, Rosemary’s version of the past is different from her parents or her brother.  She comments on why these differences exist. This, then, made me wonder about her entire story – were only her childhood memories affected by time, and did her memories during college also change due to time? Rosemary never did re-visit this topic.

     When Rosemary and Lowell lose Fern, they simply cannot accept the decision, and hold resentment and guilt for years.  Their lives revolve around their love, loss, and hope for change.  Lowell is an activist for change immediately within the realm of animal (Chimp) research; Rosemary exposes the realities of human-chimp relations, which are not easy to navigate; Fowler is an activist for awareness of animal research to the masses through her writing.  The last quarter of the book jumps ahead in time, and, what I think, is the most compelling part of the story. Life isn’t perfect, but it’s better, and each human has the power to make an impact and make that change.