They Were Sisters (Classic edition) by Dorothy Whipple

First published in 1943, 'They Were Sisters is a compulsively readable but often harrowing novel by one of Persephone's best writers, who always manages to make the ordinary extraordinary,' writes Celia Brayfield in her preface. This, the fourth Dorothy Whipple novel we have republished, is, like the others apparently gentle but has a very strong theme, in this case domestic violence.

Three sisters marry very different men and the choices they make determine whether they will flourish, be tamed or be repressed. Lucy's husband is her beloved companion; Vera's husband bores her and she turns elsewhere; and Charlotte's husband is a bully who turns a high-spirited naive young girl into a deeply unhappy woman.

In the Independent on Sunday Charlie Lee-Potter commented that They Were Sisters 'exerts a menacing tone from start to finish. I eavesdropped on the lives of Lucy, Charlotte and Vera, compelled to go on but with a sense of simmering dread', while Salley Vickers in the Spectator described 'the sparkling achievements of this accomplished novelist, not the least of which is the ability - rarer today than it should be - simply to entertain.'

Series:Persephone Classics
Format:Paperback / softback 464 pages
Publisher:Persephone Books Ltd
Imprint:Persephone Books Ltd
ISBN:9781906462567
Published:21 Oct 2021
Classifications:The arts