Accidental Bond: How Sibling Connections Influence Adult Relationships

by Susan Scarf Merrell and Susan Merrell

Book Overview

Why do siblings raised in the same family environment often have wildly differing memories of childhood? How does birth order really affect life in the family? Why do siblings of the same gender tend to identify with different parents?

In this thoughtful and remarkable exploration of siblings of all varieties, journalist Susan Scarf Merrell brings to light some of the most painful, joyous, and confusing aspects of siblinghood as revealed in dozens...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0449911195
• ISBN13: 9780449911198
• Release Date: January 1997
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Length: 322 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.6" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Descriptive and informative

This book was written by a journalist who interviewed all the siblings of several families. The descriptions of the people that she met were well-drawn. The author also outlined some of the concepts that have been put forth by psychologists studying sibling relationships and character development. These were interesting, and went beyond the most usual system of birth order characterization.My intent in reading this book was to gain some insight on some pernicious troubles that persevere in my relationships with my own siblings. This book didn't seem very helpful in that light. A few of the relationships had some undercurrents, or outright problems, but there wasn't a lot of narrative about solving the problems. The problematic relationships seemed to be glossed over by the subjects themselves, so that there wasn't even any material that gave me a chance to see problems similar to my own from the other perspective.

interesting perspective on siblings

This book gave me much to think about how I relate to my adult sisters. The stories of the siblings told by the siblings are well-written by Susan Scarf Merrell. I look forward to her next book.