Distributed for Bodleian Library Publishing
Great Literary Sisters
A celebration of sisterhood throughout some of literature’s best-loved tales.
Sisterly relationships feature prominently in some of our best-loved classics. From Jane and Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice to Hasina and Nazneen in Brick Lane, sisters have provided inspiration to novelists for centuries.
Sisters can be best friends, mother figures, rivals, heroes, sounding boards, or partners in crime, depending on literary genre, era, or plot demands. They can bring focus to women’s changing societal roles, especially in works that predate the twentieth century, such as Middlemarch, The Woman in White, and The Old Wives’ Tale. Their bonds with younger or older siblings, like those of Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy in Little Women, are often complex, nuanced, and even devastating.
Covering childhood, adventure, affairs of the heart, and mental health, this book explores the role of sisters in twenty individual entries. Including writers as diverse as Charles Dickens, E.M. Forster, J.D. Salinger, Toni Morrison, and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, it makes the perfect read for book-loving sisters, whatever their connection.
Table of Contents
Castles in the Air - Meg, Jo, Beth & Amy · Little Women by Louisa M. Alcott
Railway Rivalry - Bobbie, Peter & Phil · The Railway Children by E. Nesbit
Sisters by Accident - Pauline, Petrova & Posy · Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild
Kid Sister - Phoebe & Holden · The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Heroes at Home
Poverty and Riches - Fanny & Amy · Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens
Hidden Lives - Dorothea & Celia · Middlemarch by George Eliot
Keep Calm and Carry On - Constance & Sophia · The Old Wives’ Tale by Arnold Bennett
Prose and Passion - Margaret & Helen · Howards End by E.M. Forster
Affairs of the Heart
Second Chances - Elinor & Marianne · Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Mild and Mischievous - Jane & Elizabeth · Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Debutantes - Kate & Olivia · Invitation to the Waltz by Rosamond Lehmann
My Twin, Ejima m - Kainene & Olanna · Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi
Adichie
Nurse and Murderer - Korede & Ayoola · My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
Trauma
Creation Myths - Cassandra & Julia · The Game by A.S. Byatt
Arrested Development - Beloved & Denver · Beloved by Toni Morrison
Little Mothers - Isabel & Nina · Talking to the Dead by Helen Dunmore
Garment Girls - Hasina & Nazneen · Brick Lane by Monica Ali
To the Rescue
Divided Loyalties - Jeanie & Effie · The Heart of Mid-Lothian by Sir Walter Scott
Identity Theft - Marian & Laura · The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
The Volunteer - Katniss & Primrose · The Hunger Games, Catching Fire and Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins