Eustace and Hilda. Illustrated

Eustace and Hilda (1947) is the final instalment in L. P. Hartley’s Eustace and Hilda Trilogy, which begins with The Shrimp and the Anemone (1944) and continues in The Sixth Heaven (1946).

The novel follows siblings Eustace and Hilda, whose intertwined lives are marked by intense emotional dependency, rivalry, loyalty, and sacrifice. Eustace, gentle, dreamy and frail, remains devoted to his older sister Hilda, whose dominant, determined nature both protects him and shapes his identity.

As young adults, they are unexpectedly drawn into the world of the wealthy Staveley family. Their stay at the Staveley country house becomes a pivotal event, stirring long‑buried feelings, regrets, and desires. From there their paths diverge: Eustace at Oxford striving to find his place; Hilda devoting herself to social good, particularly through a clinic, only to face betrayal and collapse.

Hartley portrays the emotional cost of dependency and the difficulty of individuation within sibling bonds. The relationship between Eustace and Hilda is lovingly drawn yet burdensome, defined by love but shadowed by guilt, sacrifice and the fear that separation may cause irreparable harm.

The setting shifts from the seaside of childhood to the academic environs of Oxford, and finally to Venice and back home, as the siblings confront the consequences of decisions made in earlier years. Hilda’s breakdown, Eustace’s sense of duty, and the devastating personal cost of loyalty form much of the emotional core of the novel.

Awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction, Eustace and Hilda is widely considered Hartley’s masterpiece in exploring how childhood and sibling devotion can shape—and sometimes warp—adult life.