This is a very engaging book. I listened to this audio straight through, from beginning to end. The reader was good and the narrative compelling. Rosemary Cooke’s father conducted research at the University in Bloomington, Indiana. He and his assistants studied the progress and relationship developing between Rosemary and “her sister” Fern. They were the same age, give or take a couple of months. Essentially, both girls were twinned, taught the same skills at the same time and their achievements were documented.
For a good portion of the book, the reader is unaware of the differences between Fern and Rosemary. We know there is sibling rivalry and to deal with it, Rosemary creates an imaginary friend named Mary, who exists for as long as she needs her. It was hard to get used to Fern being referred to, in an almost human way. She was a sister and a mother; she had children, and Rosemary thought of them as nieces and nephews. The bond was that strong.
In some ways, Fern took on the essence of Rosemary and Rosemary took on the essence of Fern, making it difficult for both of them to get along in their own societies. Because she was brought up with Fern, Rosemary was not well socialized. She could not attend parties without Fern, and Fern did not behave well enough to go with her. Because they were sheltered from many social commitments, Rosemary and her brother, Lowell, were both a little “different”, as was Fern in her own community. Still, the nature of the beast survives. In the end, an animal is an animal and a human is a human.
Fern is a chimpanzee and, like the fable of the scorpion and the frog, it was in her nature to behave like an animal. Rosemary was never truly sure if her memories of her time with Fern were based on facts or dreams. She knew that she loved Fern like a sister, and that Fern loved her back. Their relationship for the first five years of their lives affected their future behavior patterns. Rosemary had to learn to get along in human society as Fern had to learn to live in her animal kingdom.
An underlying theme of this novel is animal rights. Lowell Cooke becomes involved with ALF-the Animal Liberation Front, a loosely formed group that works to free animals in captivity and to prevent their torture, experimentation and inhumane treatment, not always through legal means. The book also points out how animals are tortured in scientific laboratories for research, and although she realizes some good comes from it, Rosemary is torn because of the cruelty of the processes involved.
Rosemary thinks that the problem with the world is that people think only in terms of dollars and cents, but in essence, is she not thinking the same way, obsessed with what others have while she does little to accumulate anything on her own, coasting through school and often hanging out with less than stellar characters. She seems very self-interested, exactly the same flaw she attributes to the rich and successful, even though she is often compassionate and altruistic.
The author’s liberal agenda becomes obvious with not so subtle remarks like the one describing a female detective with “shellacked republican” hair. What is republican hair? The reference to republican is obviously meant as an insult. There is also that thread that supports the notion that the rich are selfish, caring only about their own needs at the expense of the workers who make them rich. Most of these remarks are insinuated in a negative way, but never fully stated as a philosophy.
So, this is another book with a decidedly progressive agenda, though it is not heavy handed, and I fear I may no longer be able to find a book to read that is more fair and balanced. Please, deliver me from these authors who lecture me on the menace of the right and the majesty of the left. Surely someone can write about a happy medium.

I liked the book but would not recommend the book. It was new subject matter to me, but not sure everyone would be interested.