![]() ![]() But his mental illness turns out to be a much headier brew. Early indications are that Justin's problem is alcohol, and he certainly fails every breathalyzer test from beginning to end of our uncomfortable acquaintance of him. Unable to solve a problem like Justin, she runs interference between him and their mother, Grace, perhaps predictably to no one's benefit. Her inner nurse cannot abandon a brother she genuinely loves, but his attempts to "move back in" work her last nerve. Willa is a nurse with aspirations to make art with her dioramas. Justin, a prodigal brother as well as son, is gay and, in his own estimation, "a fuckup." He's never far from the novel but ghosts his family for years at a time. The plot sits queasily somewhere between "Hansel and Gretel" and "A Long Day's Journey Into Night." The title characters - brother, Justin, and sister, Willa - are mired in the emotional wasteland of upstate New York. The title of Richard Mirabella's debut novel, "Brother & Sister Enter the Forest" promises the sinister, and Mirabella makes good on the promise. ![]()
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