Book Review: “The Sisters Brothers” by Patrick DeWitt
Patrick DeWitt has only just arrived on the Canadian literature scene, but his latest novel, The Sisters Brothers, is getting him noticed, winning the Governor General’s Award in 2011, and making the Giller Prize shortlist.
It’s set in the gold rush Old West, and follows the story of two hired killers, Eli and Charlie Sisters on a mission to kill Kermit Warm for unidentified reasons.
The two brothers are hitmen, it’s true, but they squabble, joke, and goof off like any brothers would. Eli is big-boned, faithful, insecure, and will fall in puppy-love with any barmaid who’ll give him the time of day; Charlie is cruel, capricious and wickedly funny. They rarely agree on anything, but they’ve certainly got each other’s backs.
DeWitt isn’t trying to report history here; he’s playing off an established genre and having a lot of fun at it. The heroes are rugged and unflappable like Clint Eastwood, but also deeper—and funnier. The dialogue is excellent, and DeWitt’s ear for that erudite yet countrified cowboy diction is pitch-perfect.
“But you are not lawmen?” asks a love-interest of Eli’s.
“We are the opposite of lawmen,” he replies matter-of-factly.
At times the grit and cold-blooded violence are over the top (it’s a Canadian novel, what do you expect?), undermining sympathy for the protagonists, and there is one plot device used towards the end that seemed a bit chancy and fake, but these were minor flaws.
At the heart of the novel is a man caught between his growing desire for goodness, and his already established profession as a killer. Even as he’s in dialogue with a man who he will shortly fight to the death, there’s a kindness about Eli that’s off-putting. Even as he’s on a mission to kill a man he’s never met and who’s likely innocent, he refuses to purchase a new horse because he’s fallen in love with Tub, a horse that is half-lame and one-eyed, and by all accounts—save Eli’s—a worthless piece of meat. It’s this presence of goodness and gentleness among so much Old-West grit, melancholy and straight-up evil that gives the novel much of its substance.
If Margaret Atwood and Leonard Cohen are the only Canadian writers you’ve heard of, or if you are just looking for a compelling story with a lot of laughs and insight, I highly recommend Dewitt’s, The Sisters Brothers.
Derek Witten
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