A Twisty Gothic Tale

I like stories that defy a reader's expectations and throw them for a loop.  Perhaps not in every situation, but when I'm reading a suspenseful tale with Gothic overtones like Poppy Adams's The Sister, which was particularly creepy, I like being surprised.  And surprised I was.  Adams has written a finely crafted tale of an eccentric family mired in secrets and misunderstandings.

Virginia and Vivien are sisters in 1950s England living in Bulburrow Court, a sprawling Victorian house filled to the rafters with family heirlooms and the paraphernalia of a lifetime spent studying moths.  Although Ginny is the elder, Vivi is more apt to take command of any situation, a vivacious leader to Ginny's more studious and introspective disposition.  At the age of eight Vivi falls from the family's bell tower.  Her fall is broken by a balustrade that partially impales her and will cause her to lose the ability to bear children.  This will have serious repercussions for both girls later in life.  When Ginny's part in the accident is questioned, the reader gets the first inkling that something's not quite right with this family, and Ginny in particular.

Ginny narrates the story from the vantage point of an elderly woman looking back on her 70-plus years of life.  The daughter of a somewhat famous lepidopterist, she takes after her scientific forbears and becomes a noted scientist as well, devoting her life to the study of moths.  The story flashes back and forth between Ginny and Vivi's childhood, and a weekend in the present when Vivi finally returns home after an absence of more than fifty years.  While Ginny is quite content to lose herself in her father's obsession, Vivi yearns for the excitement of life in a big city, where she'll marry and eventually distance herself from her family.  It's left to Ginny to take care of her mother who becomes dependent on alcohol to fill the void her family creates--one daughter off to London and the other spending all her time researching moths with her father.  After the deaths of her parents Ginny is left to carry on her father's work and will become increasingly reclusive as the years pass, left with nothing but her moths and her fond memories of the past until Vivi's return threatens to upset her world.

"The past is not important.  The only thing that counts now is my memory of it.  I feel an uncharacteristic flash of anger, a surge of heat through my cheeks: How dare Vivien come home and steal my safe, delicious memories?  Three days ago my memory of life was a complete and happy event--a blissful childhood, a warm, loving family, a blossoming career--but Vivien's walked into my head and littered it with doubt and anger and turbulence.  The past I used to know has melted before my eyes into something writhing and fluid, with no structure, no scaffold,  I can never again think of my parents, my childhood or my life without the stains spilt all over them."

Ginny is an intriguing character and narrator, all the more so because as I read I wasn't sure exactly how much of what she was saying could be believed.  When an author uses a first person voice, I expect the character to be truthful, but the more I read, the more the suppositions I had made about the family dynamics and the sisters' past experiences growing up were thrown into question.  This was especially true when Vivi returns home and the same events are shown through her very different eyes.  Adams very subtlety dropped hints in the story that maybe not everything Ginny recollects as true really happened that way.  Watching events unfold I started second guessing myself.  I thought it was so clever to have such an unreliable narrator juxtaposed against the scientific aspect of the story where objective observation is so crucial.  I know there has been some criticism about the detailed descriptions of moths and the intricacies of the nature of their lives, but I thought it was integral to how Adams constructed her characters and how the story played out.  It also added to the very creepy atmosphere of the story.

If you do read this book, and I found it highly entertaining and very well done, don't expect a neat and tidy ending.  Adams leaves a lot up to the reader's imagination.  She knows how to throw the reader off balance and create just the right sort of atmosphere for the sort of story she's telling.  I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for her next book.   

Comments

[Susan]

Thanks for posting. It does sound like a interesting read.

[BooksPlease]

I'm a bit confused because Poppy Adams has another book out called The Behaviour Of Moths which sounds very like this book. According to http://www.thebookseller.com/books/author-profiles/52893-poppy-adams-moths-and-memories.html this is her debut book. Amazon lists both books. Are they the same book with different titles do you know?

Whatever, it sounds like a book I'd enjoy!

[litlove]

This sounds fascinating - and what a wonderful review you write!

[Danielle]

Susan--It was definitely different than anything else I've read lately!
BooksPlease--Yes it is the same book, but they changed the title in the US and the covers look completely different. I'm not sure why they do that--I guess they figure the title wouldn't appeal to American readers? In any case it was a great read. Thanks for the link--how interesting to hear her inspirations for the novel.
Litlove--Thanks. I was impressed as this was a first novel even.

[Dorothy W.]

I do like unreliable narrators and books written from different perspectives (like Fingersmith, actually). I bet I would enjoy this one!

[Court]

I have this sitting on my bookshelf right now waiting for me to read. After reading your post about it, I'm even more excited to pick it up!

[Kaite]

Definitely one for my to-read pile!

[Andi]

I have to read this one!! Your review pushed me over the top.

[iliana]

Great review Danielle! I really want to read this one and am glad to hear you enjoyed it. I think I'd like it to so I'll be on the look out for it.

[Danielle]

Dorothy--I'd be interested to hear what other reader's thoughts are. I have an idea about the narrator, but I don't want to talk about it here and give anything away. I find unreliable narrators interesting as well.
Court--Let me know what you think of it when you get to it!
Kaite--I really enjoyed this--even parts about moths!
Andi--This was a great read--especially if you like creepy, Gothic settings.
Iliana--I think you might enjoy it as well. I'm sure you're library will have it. You'll have to let me know what you think!

[Wendy]

I really liked this book too - I found it grew on me, gradually pulling me in until I couldn't put it down. I loved how she used the moths in the book (although I know some readers who thought that part of the book was overdone!).