Rate this book

The True And Splendid History Of The Harristown Sisters (2014)

by Michelle Lovric(Favorite Author)

3.68 of 5 Votes: 4

languge

English

genre

Historical Fiction

publisher

Bloomsbury UK

review 1: Set in the 1800s, this exuberant romp through the fortunes of seven long-haired sisters from Harristown in County Kildare is an original and thoroughly enjoyable novel, which follows the girls’ incredible rise from abject poverty to riches beyond their wildest dreams, and the inevitable fall that so often follows fame and celebrity. Inspired by the real-life American Sutherland Sisters who made millions from exploiting their hair, the sisters take advantage of their own luxuriant and abundant locks and their talent for the stage, to devise a show that has people flocking in to see them. Rich in imagery, wonderful dialogue, and evocative and atmospheric descriptions, it’s a book that carries the reader along on the headlong journey. Underlying it all, though, is a darke... morer aspect, an element of tragedy and loss, which keeps the story rooted in reality. It is, however a little too long, and has a few less successful sub-plots, but overall it’s a fun and engaging fantastical story that is both absorbing and thought-provoking.
review 2: This book is as complicated, and it's many stories as twisted, as the thick braids sometimes worn by the seven sisters with hair as long as they are tall. The challenge for the reader is to overcome the deficiencies of the narrator: the middle sister, whose self-knowledge is often as limited as her worldly knowledge. The impoverished and uneducated sisters are exploited as a quasi-circus act, and their lack of a guardian causes unscrupulous men to gather around and cause mischief and penury. While there is a happy ending, the sheer weight of the horrors visited upon the sisters, from every conceivable corner of their lives, just makes this a hard book to read. I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.. Had I purchased the book myself, I would not have finished it, I would have stopped after the first 50 pages or so. less

Download links for: The True and Splendid History of The Harristown Sisters

Advertising