Five of the six Mitford sisters
CALL ME BIASED, but I don’t think of the Wall Street Journal as the most sisterly-leaning publication. But after this week’s installment of their regular “Five Best” book column, I may have to reconsider my position.
Author Heller (picture from Amazon.com)
The Journal asked snappy British novelist Zoë Heller (who, as it happens, is the sister-in-law of a friend of mine) to name her choices for the five best books on sisterhood. Her picks are diverse (from Little Women to collected letters of the Mitford sisters, the only non-fiction book to make the cut) and make for a great spring-into-summer reading list.
After being deep into memoir these last few months, it may be time for me to tackle a wonderful novel, and what better subject than sisterhood? I think it may finally be time for me to read Marilynne Robinson’s much-lauded Housekeeping.
Once I’ve finished Heller’s picks by others, I may also have to have fun rereading her own blackly comedic works, including What Was She Thinking?: Notes on a Scandal and her first book, Everything You Know. Her latest, The Believers, has just been published in the U.S.
What would YOU pick as your top sister novel?
(Thanks to Karen of A Class Act for the image of the Mitfords!)
No related posts.
First time here? Here's the idea:
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
The Solace of Leaving Early by Haven Kimmel. It is one of my favorite novels, ever, and as a bonus happens to be about sisterhood. It’s fantastic.
I’ve always wanted to read Haven Kimmel, but never have. I’ll check it out–thanks for the recommendation, Danielle!
“Sister Mine” by Tawnee O’Dell was a good read. The few twists and turns are satisfying, and her writing style is refreshing.
Well, my very favourite sister novel of all time is of course Pride and Prejudice (what else could it be?).
But another sister novel I quite enjoyed was “I Capture the Castle” by Dodie Smith (very funny — just looked at the list, and saw it was in the WSJ article — what are the chances?!!). And the Love in a Cold Climate novels… Also, <lynne Reid Banks' "The Dark Quartet".