Three Girls and Their Brother

The three red-haired Heller sisters have just had their big break. Riding on the coattails of their famous literary critic grandfather, Daria, Polly, and Amelia find themselves in a photo shoot for the New Yorker done by famous photographer Herb Lang. For Daria and Polly and their washed-up beauty queen mother, this open door to fame and fortune is all they could have hoped for, but fourteen-year-old Amelia had other things in mind for her future.

In what seems mere moments, the three sisters, regardless of their intentions, skyrocket to fame, with photo shoots in all the major magazines, a billboard in Times Square, and even a part in an off-Broadway play for Amelia, who has hardly acted a moment in her life. As the girls sign a deal show more with an agent, and their mother actively pushes them even further into the spotlight in a desperate effort to relive her glory days through them, the three are swept away by the tide of their own sudden fame. Their brother Philip's lone voice of reason is drowned out by the din of those who only claim to have the girls' best interests at heart. Soon, even he is shipped off to his absentee father rather than allowed to "interfere" with his sisters' rise to fame.

The narrative proceeds in four parts, each narrated by a sister, and one by narrated by Philip. Rebeck writes in a colloquial tone that gives the impression of each character telling the story from their own perspective just as they would speak, which works, but is at the same time irritating owing to the fact that teenagers don't make for the most eloquent narrators. It almost strikes you as a fictional attempt at an E True Hollywood story except for the fact that the characters' voices don't seem all that different from each other and Amelia, especially, has a penchant of excessively bad language.

Nonetheless, Three Girls and Their Brother is a page-turner and a scathing indictment of what havoc fame can wreak upon a formerly normal family. Rebeck does a fine job of portraying the effects of the sisters' fame on everyone surrounding them from their fame hungry mother who easily loses sight of her responsibility to stand up for the best interests and safety of her children to the protective voice of reason brother who is slowly coming unhinged as he is tossed aside like so much garbage so that he can't stand in the way of the sisters' good fortune to the hoards of people so eager to exploit the newest "it" girls to make a buck that they will eagerly pack youngsters off to "meetings" with middle-aged movie stars who have anything but the best of intentions. Despite my occasional issues with the narration, I found myself totally absorbed in the story, wondering when and if someone would draw the line that would stop all the fame madness and hoping that lovable loser Philip might find his way back into the family that basically kicked him out on a whim and waiting to see how much of being used and posturing for the media the girls would take before they could finally learn to stand up for themselves amid the chaos. show less

Celebrity status. It destroys lives. Unhinges people. These things, I knew. But reading this book and looking at the cycle from the inside--and from a teenage perspective--gave me new insights into the monster of fame. Although there were definitely a few too many similarities between the style of the different POVs and some redundancy, each character highlighted aspects of their journey unnoticed by the other siblings. And each of them brought something interesting to the table.

NYC - the world of models and "it" girls - very readable, funny, far out but believable. Rebeck stunningly captured the voices of smart, world-wise NYC teens, and made me care about their "15 minutes of fame." This was a glimpse into a world that I know is out there, but that I'll certainly never experience first-hand!

I was so looking forward to a lighthearted, fun read about the effect of celebrity on a normal family. However, early in the book, I found several distasteful elements: excessive foul language, underage drinking, and a mother who looked the other way when her 14-year-old daughter was sexually abused. I would normally quit reading at this point, but I wanted to give the author every opportunity, and I did discover the writing was fast-paced and witty...much like "reading" a movie. Not too surprising as Ms. Rebeck is a respected playwright. I can see this book becoming a successful movie adaptation for the teen and twenties crowd.

Although I didn't get accustomed to the trash talk and found the plot rather thin, some readers would probably show more find this an entertaining satire of pop culture and the power of the paparazzi.

I developed a mild affection for the reluctant "It girl" Amelia and pity for her un-hip brother. Other than those feelings and the departure from NY high fashion to the entertaining off-broadway chapter, this book didn't work for me. Books are appealing or repelling to different people for different reasons, so I urge you to consider the reviews and decide for yourselves whether or not this is the book for you. show less

The Heller siblings are descended from famous literary critic, Leo Heller, who wrote for The New Yorker. In order to boost ratings, The New Yorker decides to have the three Heller girls, all of them beautiful redheads, pose for a photo spread to be published in the magazine…a combination of beauty and brains (at least in a genetic sense!). As a result, the girls become the hottest models in town and their lives are turned upside down. Their younger brother, Ralph, goes along for the ride. Soon, the two youngest sibs have dropped out of school; Ralph has been shipped off to his estranged father so the girls can concentrate on their modeling careers and a mildly dysfunctional family is no longer a family at all.

Reading this book is like show more having a bird's eye view of life behind the scenes of many young celebrities today. The Heller sisters have their lives disrupted by the paparazzi, every decision made by agents, publicists or by their mother, the very definition of "stage-mother". Every word or action is vetted to make sure they don't do or say something that could cause their career to blow up in front of them. The story is told from four perspectives…Ralph and his three sisters, Amelia, Polly and Daria. At first it seems that there is no real plot to the story, but as you hear from each member of the family, all the plot lines come together for a very satisfying ending. Rebeck infuses the story with plenty of humor. Sometimes you will laugh with the characters and sometimes you wiill want to slap them, but in the end, you will cheer for them and then wonder how much of that is true? show less

Now that it’s all over, everybody is saying it was the picture–that stupid picture was behind every disaster. . . .

They may be the granddaughters of a famous literary critic, but what really starts it all is Daria, Polly, and Amelia Heller’s stunning red hair. Out of the blue one day, The New Yorker calls and says that they want to feature the girls in a glamorous spread shot by a world-famous photographer, and before long these three beautiful nobodies from Brooklyn have been proclaimed the new “It” girls.

But with no parental guidance–Mom’s a former beauty queen living vicariously through her daughters, and Dad is nowhere to be found–the three girls find themselves easy prey for the sharks and piranhas of show business. show more Posing in every hot fashion magazine, tangling with snarling fashonistas and soulless agents, skipping school and hitting A-list parties, the sisters are caught up in a whirlwind rise to fame that quickly spirals out of control.

When Amelia, the youngest of the three–who never really wanted to be a model in the first place–appears in an Off-Broadway play, the balance of power shifts, all the pent-up resentment and pressure comes to a head, and the girls’ quiet, neglected brother reaches a critical point of virtual breakdown. And against the odds, even as the struggle for fame threatens to tear the family apart, the Hellers begin to see that despite the jealousy, greed, and uncertainty that have come to define their relationships, in the celebrity world of viciousness and betrayal, all they really have is one another. show less

I wasn’t thrilled to receive “Three Girls and Their Brother” as an Early Reviewer Book through LibraryThing. The cover text sounded like a Brittney Spears or Lindsay Lohan story of fame and celebrity gone bad. My interests do not include reading stories about paparazzi and dollar worship perpetuated by the 24-hour media. But, as I am thrilled to be included in the world of book reviewers, I committed to read this book.

And I was surprised by the depth of it. I read mostly for character in my fiction choices and this book was structured like Barbara Kingsolver’s “The Poisonwood Bible”. It looks all four characters separately and related the story from within their skin. Four siblings; a fourteen year old girl, a fifteen year show more old boy, a seventeen year old sister and another eighteen year old sister, each get a fourth of the book. You begin with the brother; Phillip, whose stature in the family and whose take on the newly acquired family fame, makes him the the odd man out. Although being nearly the youngest, he is the clearest thinker and grounds his family in common sense and his protective instinct. The girls go through stages of being thrilled with the attention to beginning to understand how insidious fame and fortune in modeling and show business are. Instead of being disgusted with a waste of another thin story of fame, it was fascinating to get an inside look at how this family navigates the sticky world of celebrity.

The only thing that left me curious was how Rebeck might have handles an additional section from the mother’s perspective. This story and parallels in real life lead to questions on what are the parents thinking? Although the mother may be an insignificant and impotent as a parental figure while the story truly is about the growth and bonding of the “Three Girls and Their Brother””. The writing is excellent and if you chose to read this it surprise you with the authenticity of characters. Theresa Rebeck in her debut novel, has preciously been a playwriter and that influence is visible. show less