They Were Sisters

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 is the fourth Dorothy Whipple novel we have republished and, like the others, it is 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. This is the story of how those marriages shape the sister's lives, the consequences of their decisions, and the sisterly love that hopes to save them from tragedy.

In 1945 They Were Sisters was made into a film starring James Mason.