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Available
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Publication
Virago Press Ltd (2008), Edition: First Edition, Hardcover, 320 pages
Description
From her lookout in the crumbling mansion that was her childhood home, Ginny watches and waits for her younger sister to arrive. Vivien has not set foot in the house since she left nearly fifty years ago; the reclusive Ginny has rarely ventured out, retreating into the precise routines that define her days, carrying on her father's solitary work studying moths. As the sisters revisit their shared past, they realize that their recollections differ in essential and unsettling ways. Before long, the deeply buried resentments that have shaped both their lives rise to the surface, and Vivien's presence threatens to disrupt Ginny's carefully ordered world. Told in Ginny's unforgettable voice, this subtle and chilling debut novel tells an extraordinary story of how families are capable of undoing themselves--especially in the name of love.… (more)
Media reviews
The plot clanks cheerfully along, twisting and teasing, and the writing exerts a certain spell. Ginnie's confidences are debatable, a smoke-screen through which we discern the writer's manipulative hand. This is the book's real fascination, watching the author play her mischievous game of bluff
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with the reader. Purple passages concerning moth pathology are laid as bait to lead us up the garden path, a stomach-turning sauce for the plot extravagance. The novel is a divertimento on a mothy and insubstantial theme. Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member SallyApollon
The Behaviour of Moths
By Poppy Adams
Sally Apollon
Overall Score: 6.5 out of 10
Literary Style
I found this to be very readable, conversational style, funnily enough, the second book I’ve read in a row where the author directly addresses the reader. This is a device that I think this author used
Themes
CHANGE-METAMORPHOSIS: I had to bring this up, because at the outset, I thought that Vivi was going to be Ginny’s salvation, to rescue her from herself, from her own self-imposed isolation. But it became more & more obvious as time wore on that Ginny’s “cocoon” was impenetrable; that she had no desire for any kind of change, that it was not going to take place. It seemed like an obvious theme in the context, but it really didn’t figure.
TRUTH-SANITY: Intriguing because it seemed that the inherent truth of the central character, our narrator—was indeed insanity—although that was not obvious from the outset, indeed, all throughout the book I had this sustained belief that Ginny was odd, certainly, mentally ill, maybe a little, but it wasn’t really until the end of the tale that as her world came crashing down you realized that you had been a part of her madness, her delusional unreality. This was difficult to perceive because her family DID keep her in a cocoon & did not appear to try & break her out of it. Was Vivi’s life so mysterious to her because she took no interest, or did her family keep it from her to try & preserve her stability? It was impossible to say, but the result was that we, like Ginny actually knew very little about Vivi—which was frustrating; probably intentionally so, on the part of the author. Ginny was kept in the dark—like the moths.
INTELLECTUAL STUDY VS PRACTICAL ABILITY: There was this small window on the world of intellectual fanatics, such as Clive and his cohorts, who were indeed misfits and not capable members of society. Sometimes I think people like this find careers in which they can obsess—and it has a useful outcome, even when the remains of their life & relationships are in tatters. Clive’s colleague—who made offensive overtures to Ginny was a classic example of this.
LOVE: Dysfunctional all of them: husband-wife, mother-daughter, father-daughter, sister-sister. It was disturbing to see how Ginny’s relationship with her mother deteriorated as Maud declined into alcoholism, but more disturbing was the blind eye that Ginny’s father and sister turned to it. Tragic that this was the only intimacy Ginny had, when she was colluding with her mother. And how odd was the surrogacy episode? Arthur was evidently a nice bloke who was in WAAY over his head with this family. From this point on, I was trying to diagnose Ginny.
FREE WILL VS INEVITABLE (CHEMICALLY DRIVEN) BEHAVIOUR: I did find all the biological lepidopterist details completely absorbing and could quite follow Clive’s train of logic about there being no free will—I have thought the same myself at various times in my life. I do find it compelling that Moths will always do the same behaviour in response to the specific chemical-mediators. With the exception of the cannibalistic Moths…I thought that episode was very funny: Arthur to Vivi: “How do you know it’s a cannibal” “You just know”. That was the singular unifying moment for this family; it had a parallel to their treatment & acceptance of Ginny, in the same way they just knew & accepted that she was different & isolated her.
GOD VS NO-GOD: This follows on from the above—the most interesting and poignant part was when Ginny was listening to the church service & simultaneously watching the invaded ants nest. She curiously heard herself being prayed for, which I thought would become an insightful moment for her, but while Ginny rejected God wholesale, I felt that her need for him was exposed when she saw her sister ignore her baby’s grave and was so emotionally wounded by it. That, to me, demonstrates emotions locked deep away (not absent altogether)—which is why she became so angry, enough to kill her. NOT that she genuinely had no need for or regard for God, but that her life had been a steadily built up defense from him and others.
SECRETS: How secrets can turn on you & destroy lives. The baby-secret. The alcoholism-supposed secret. The mental illness secret. The physical abuse secret.
Characterization
GINNY: Very well drawn. I was very sympathetic toward her, until she put the arsenic in the milk. I think I decided in the end that she was probably paranoid-schizophrenic, but I’d have to check my facts on that one.
VIVI: I guess she was like many adults who have literally run away from dysfunctional-toxic families. Truth was we learned very little about her—especially how she felt about the baby & how her marriage fell apart—another story, I suppose.
MAUD: I don’t know too much about alcoholism from the inside, but I’m guessing the author does, as this feels all too true.
CLIVE: What a cowardly man! How he ran away from everything to hide in his work—and he was supposed to be the academic one. I thought Ginny was the alcoholic co-dependent; but it was really him who enabled it—Ginny didn’t stand a chance.
Overall, I really liked the book, I found the comments on aging & decay interesting too. It was not just the characters getting old physically, but the house was falling apart, as was their moral sense. Finally, I have to say that the first thing I thought about Moths was that their being drawn to the light was suicidal—it could kill them and it seemed that these characters spiraled closer & closer to the sun until they got burned.
Afterword: I realized later that I had reviewed this book without making any comment about the fact that Vivi believed her father to have murdered their mother. When it came out it was almost secondary to Ginny’s own issues, but it did go some way to explain Vivi’s behaviour. It didn’t seem true to me, the story was almost enough without this, it seemed superfluous.
By Poppy Adams
Sally Apollon
Overall Score: 6.5 out of 10
Literary Style
I found this to be very readable, conversational style, funnily enough, the second book I’ve read in a row where the author directly addresses the reader. This is a device that I think this author used
Show More
more effectively, as the style was more conversational, more intimate, for example she would start a train of thought with: “Did I tell you…”Themes
CHANGE-METAMORPHOSIS: I had to bring this up, because at the outset, I thought that Vivi was going to be Ginny’s salvation, to rescue her from herself, from her own self-imposed isolation. But it became more & more obvious as time wore on that Ginny’s “cocoon” was impenetrable; that she had no desire for any kind of change, that it was not going to take place. It seemed like an obvious theme in the context, but it really didn’t figure.
TRUTH-SANITY: Intriguing because it seemed that the inherent truth of the central character, our narrator—was indeed insanity—although that was not obvious from the outset, indeed, all throughout the book I had this sustained belief that Ginny was odd, certainly, mentally ill, maybe a little, but it wasn’t really until the end of the tale that as her world came crashing down you realized that you had been a part of her madness, her delusional unreality. This was difficult to perceive because her family DID keep her in a cocoon & did not appear to try & break her out of it. Was Vivi’s life so mysterious to her because she took no interest, or did her family keep it from her to try & preserve her stability? It was impossible to say, but the result was that we, like Ginny actually knew very little about Vivi—which was frustrating; probably intentionally so, on the part of the author. Ginny was kept in the dark—like the moths.
INTELLECTUAL STUDY VS PRACTICAL ABILITY: There was this small window on the world of intellectual fanatics, such as Clive and his cohorts, who were indeed misfits and not capable members of society. Sometimes I think people like this find careers in which they can obsess—and it has a useful outcome, even when the remains of their life & relationships are in tatters. Clive’s colleague—who made offensive overtures to Ginny was a classic example of this.
LOVE: Dysfunctional all of them: husband-wife, mother-daughter, father-daughter, sister-sister. It was disturbing to see how Ginny’s relationship with her mother deteriorated as Maud declined into alcoholism, but more disturbing was the blind eye that Ginny’s father and sister turned to it. Tragic that this was the only intimacy Ginny had, when she was colluding with her mother. And how odd was the surrogacy episode? Arthur was evidently a nice bloke who was in WAAY over his head with this family. From this point on, I was trying to diagnose Ginny.
FREE WILL VS INEVITABLE (CHEMICALLY DRIVEN) BEHAVIOUR: I did find all the biological lepidopterist details completely absorbing and could quite follow Clive’s train of logic about there being no free will—I have thought the same myself at various times in my life. I do find it compelling that Moths will always do the same behaviour in response to the specific chemical-mediators. With the exception of the cannibalistic Moths…I thought that episode was very funny: Arthur to Vivi: “How do you know it’s a cannibal” “You just know”. That was the singular unifying moment for this family; it had a parallel to their treatment & acceptance of Ginny, in the same way they just knew & accepted that she was different & isolated her.
GOD VS NO-GOD: This follows on from the above—the most interesting and poignant part was when Ginny was listening to the church service & simultaneously watching the invaded ants nest. She curiously heard herself being prayed for, which I thought would become an insightful moment for her, but while Ginny rejected God wholesale, I felt that her need for him was exposed when she saw her sister ignore her baby’s grave and was so emotionally wounded by it. That, to me, demonstrates emotions locked deep away (not absent altogether)—which is why she became so angry, enough to kill her. NOT that she genuinely had no need for or regard for God, but that her life had been a steadily built up defense from him and others.
SECRETS: How secrets can turn on you & destroy lives. The baby-secret. The alcoholism-supposed secret. The mental illness secret. The physical abuse secret.
Characterization
GINNY: Very well drawn. I was very sympathetic toward her, until she put the arsenic in the milk. I think I decided in the end that she was probably paranoid-schizophrenic, but I’d have to check my facts on that one.
VIVI: I guess she was like many adults who have literally run away from dysfunctional-toxic families. Truth was we learned very little about her—especially how she felt about the baby & how her marriage fell apart—another story, I suppose.
MAUD: I don’t know too much about alcoholism from the inside, but I’m guessing the author does, as this feels all too true.
CLIVE: What a cowardly man! How he ran away from everything to hide in his work—and he was supposed to be the academic one. I thought Ginny was the alcoholic co-dependent; but it was really him who enabled it—Ginny didn’t stand a chance.
Overall, I really liked the book, I found the comments on aging & decay interesting too. It was not just the characters getting old physically, but the house was falling apart, as was their moral sense. Finally, I have to say that the first thing I thought about Moths was that their being drawn to the light was suicidal—it could kill them and it seemed that these characters spiraled closer & closer to the sun until they got burned.
Afterword: I realized later that I had reviewed this book without making any comment about the fact that Vivi believed her father to have murdered their mother. When it came out it was almost secondary to Ginny’s own issues, but it did go some way to explain Vivi’s behaviour. It didn’t seem true to me, the story was almost enough without this, it seemed superfluous.
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LibraryThing member eleanor_eader
There isn’t much that excites me in literature like a mystery that exudes gothic atmospheric, with family secrets being imparted via an unreliable narrator in a crumbling mansion, but I had never heard of this particular author or book until a friend sent it to me. She knew I couldn’t resist
Ginny, the last sentinel remaining in her family home to watch for the return of her younger sister – both women now in their seventies – is beset by memories of her childhood and early adulthood which are, in places, missing key connections... Ginny is not the classic neglectful or maliciously unrealiable narrator; she has Aspergers’ syndrome or is on the autistic spectrum; and because such diagnoses were rare when she was a girl, and her parents shielded her from the extent of her ‘difference’, she has a blinkered idea of the home she grew up in, lacking much of the emotional nuance needed to decipher it. Adams cleverly avoids demonising these differences, yet still provokes an atmosphere of uncertainty as to Ginny’s role in pivotal family moments; Ginny can be frustrating to read, but Adams also makes her accessible and relatable and, best of all, maintains the teasing drip of reader-understanding at the perfect level.
There is a heady degree of irony to the ending, and a compelling sadness to Ginny’s stunted but perceptible emotional evolution. I’ve read more chilling tales in the gothic convention, but I loved this for its depth of character and consistent tension.
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the genre, and as a nature lover I was fascinated by the study of moths to which the narrator and her father dedicated themselves, and, moreover, the copy is one of the Harper Perennial gloriously soft paperbacks. By page two, if you had tried to pry this book out of my hands, I would have savaged you with my teeth.Ginny, the last sentinel remaining in her family home to watch for the return of her younger sister – both women now in their seventies – is beset by memories of her childhood and early adulthood which are, in places, missing key connections... Ginny is not the classic neglectful or maliciously unrealiable narrator; she has Aspergers’ syndrome or is on the autistic spectrum; and because such diagnoses were rare when she was a girl, and her parents shielded her from the extent of her ‘difference’, she has a blinkered idea of the home she grew up in, lacking much of the emotional nuance needed to decipher it. Adams cleverly avoids demonising these differences, yet still provokes an atmosphere of uncertainty as to Ginny’s role in pivotal family moments; Ginny can be frustrating to read, but Adams also makes her accessible and relatable and, best of all, maintains the teasing drip of reader-understanding at the perfect level.
There is a heady degree of irony to the ending, and a compelling sadness to Ginny’s stunted but perceptible emotional evolution. I’ve read more chilling tales in the gothic convention, but I loved this for its depth of character and consistent tension.
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LibraryThing member kiwifortyniner
This is the story of two elderly sister reunited after an absence of fifty years. One of the sisters Ginny is the narrator. The book takes place over only a few days but through Ginny, and her memories, and her conversations with her sister we are able to piece together a lot of what has happened
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over the last fifty years. Viv left home at a young age and has hardly been back. Ginny, who became a famous lepidoperist like her father, still lives in the same house but over time she has become more and more reclusive barley venturing out. Her life has become more and more controlled by routine to the point of obsessiveness, so she finds it very difficult when Viv decides to return home to live with her sister. She feels suspicious of her sister's motives for returning. As the sisters come together we learn about their childhood and their past, and the sudden mysterious death of their mother, following her decline into alcoholism. We soon realise that the sisters see the events of their lives in very different ways and that Ginny cannot necessarily be trusted to tell the truth. The book comes to a somewhat shocking conclusion which still left me with some frustration as i did not get answers to all my questions. The other down side for me was all the information about moths which some may have found interesting but I skipped over mostly. It seemed to me to disrupt the flow of the book at times. However I still felt it was worth the read. Show Less
LibraryThing member SaturdayReadingGroup
I enjoyed this page turning read which didn't outstay its welcome, but it perhaps left a few too many loose ends at the conclusion. The restricted view of the first person narrator kept the atmosphere strange and confused - ultimately a bit too confused for me, to be honest. Due to the mysteries
Also, being somewhat scientifically illiterate I like a bit of science in fiction to make the hard stuff palatable and so appreciated the bits about lepidoptery. Although the three plot points concerning the moths did seem to fizzle out with no resolution. But maybe the moth equivalent of Moby Dick was not what Poppy Adams was aiming for.
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surrounding Virginia and her suspect storytelling I was expecting a big twist at the end - She's a ghost! She's been programmed to kill the President of the Royal Entomological Society! She's really a giant moth! Which, granted, would all have been awful ways to end the book but nevertheless it left me feeling a bit nonplussed and wanting a few more answers. But then again this did make me want to go back and try to fill in the gaps, which is the sign of a good story.Also, being somewhat scientifically illiterate I like a bit of science in fiction to make the hard stuff palatable and so appreciated the bits about lepidoptery. Although the three plot points concerning the moths did seem to fizzle out with no resolution. But maybe the moth equivalent of Moby Dick was not what Poppy Adams was aiming for.
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LibraryThing member MissMermaid118
Wonderfully creepy and compelling story of two sisters who reunite after an estrangement that lasted their entire adult lives. Beautifully written, paced, and plotted. The mood is similar to Shirley Jackson's WE HAVE ALWAYS LIVED IN THE CASTLE. Whose view of childhood events is accurate? Who is
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responsible for their mother's death? Is someone in this story insane or is it just a difference of perspective? I couldn't put it down. Highly recommended. Show Less
LibraryThing member catarina1
Short-listed for the 2008 Costa Award (formerly Whitbread Award), it brings to mind the first sentence of Tolstoy's Anna Karenina - "All happy families are like one another; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way". In the 21st century we might say that each dysfunctional family is
At first I felt that Ginny, the narrator, was just a little eccentric, but that proves to be an understatement. I was a little disappointed that we did not get to hear much of Vivi's side of the story. But it was a captivating read. I'm looking forward to more by this author.
The original title of this book was "The Behaviour of Moths", and was changed for the U.S. market. I think I learned a little more about moths than I really wanted to know.
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dysfunctional in its own way, for the Stone family is truely dysfunctional.At first I felt that Ginny, the narrator, was just a little eccentric, but that proves to be an understatement. I was a little disappointed that we did not get to hear much of Vivi's side of the story. But it was a captivating read. I'm looking forward to more by this author.
The original title of this book was "The Behaviour of Moths", and was changed for the U.S. market. I think I learned a little more about moths than I really wanted to know.
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LibraryThing member readingwithtea
Summary: Ginny Stone awaits the return of her sister Vivien to their family home, four decades after she left it. Ginny has long been the sole inhabitant of the crumbling mansion and sole keeper of the family's moth collection. We revisit the past through Ginny's eyes: her emotionally absent
Firstly, this provides a brief but efficient lay person's introduction to lepidoptery (which is an excellent word).
Characters are thoughtfully examined - all have very different personalities and are well-represented. Clive is absent, confused, once brilliant but degrades to stumbling through middle-aged mediocrity. Maud was also once brilliant and beautiful, but she descends to drunken abuse. Ginny is calculated and calm, but not unfeeling. Her future was determined by her mother, unlike Vivien, who is as delicate and flighty as the moths of the title - gregarious, impulsive, fragile and yet terribly demanding. No one in the family recovers from Vivi's demand that Ginny act as a surrogate mother for her.
The flashback structure works - it is linear and insertions are made at appropriate intervals. I did find the twist at the end rather strange - there appeared to be no reason for it beyond revenge for disturbed memories.
Certainly an engrossing read.
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lepidopterist father, from whom she inherits a profession; her emotionally abusive mother's last days; a childhood accident and a young marriage. Vivien's return will turn Ginny's world, so carefully maintained for decades, upside-down.Firstly, this provides a brief but efficient lay person's introduction to lepidoptery (which is an excellent word).
Characters are thoughtfully examined - all have very different personalities and are well-represented. Clive is absent, confused, once brilliant but degrades to stumbling through middle-aged mediocrity. Maud was also once brilliant and beautiful, but she descends to drunken abuse. Ginny is calculated and calm, but not unfeeling. Her future was determined by her mother, unlike Vivien, who is as delicate and flighty as the moths of the title - gregarious, impulsive, fragile and yet terribly demanding. No one in the family recovers from Vivi's demand that Ginny act as a surrogate mother for her.
The flashback structure works - it is linear and insertions are made at appropriate intervals. I did find the twist at the end rather strange - there appeared to be no reason for it beyond revenge for disturbed memories.
Certainly an engrossing read.
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LibraryThing member moopet
I'm not quite sure why so many people seem to dislike this book, going by the reviews I've seen here. Perhaps it was mis-marketed as some people seem to have expected it to be a gothic horror story. Perhaps people have very short attention spans or expected something with a little more action in
I picked it up second hand with no preconceptions and enjoyed it for the most part. There are moments where I feel the decrepitude of the surroundings might be laid on a little thick. And I'm not sure I liked the ending - although it's correct for the story and it made me think back and reconsider my interpretation of earlier scenes, it was a little bit quick. It made me think a little of Julian Barnes' Sense Of An Ending actually.
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it.I picked it up second hand with no preconceptions and enjoyed it for the most part. There are moments where I feel the decrepitude of the surroundings might be laid on a little thick. And I'm not sure I liked the ending - although it's correct for the story and it made me think back and reconsider my interpretation of earlier scenes, it was a little bit quick. It made me think a little of Julian Barnes' Sense Of An Ending actually.
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LibraryThing member THEPRINCESS
Two sisters who haven't seen each other in 50 years reunite at their original home, which was a very stately manor in its day, where the older sister has lived as a recluse for much of her life. The story unfolds over a weekend and goes back and forth from the past to the present. The protagonist
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is the older sister who seems to have some eccentric if not "special" ways about her and sees the past very clearly and assumes her sister has no idea what really happened in the home or to her parents after she left the home at 17. Interesting handling of the subjects but too much technical information about moths for my taste. However, it doesn't diminish the book more than one star. Show Less
LibraryThing member fig2
Two sisters reunite in their crumbling mansion after a 50-year estrangement. Their strange story of dysfunction, secrets, trauma and mental illness is fascinating and completely gripping. I loved it!
LibraryThing member writestuff
Poppy Adam’s debut novel, The Sister, begins with an elderly woman waiting for her sister to arrive home after a 50 year absence. Ginny has lived her entire life in the family house - a broken down, monolith tucked into the countryside of England. She is a recluse who peers from behind her
The novel occurs over a four day period and is narrated from Ginny’s point of view. As Ginny remembers her childhood with Vivi, the reader begins to understand the source of her neuroses. Ginny’s father, Clive, was a famous lepidopterist and Ginny assisted him with his obsessive study of moths. The moths become another character in the book, which in my opinion elevated the novel from a so-so gothic tale to an exceptional first work.
The Sister is about mental illness, addiction and the dynamics of family, but it is also about nature vs. nurture and whether or not it is choice or biology which dictates our behavior. Adams uses the moth as a symbol to underline these concepts.
'I can mimic the scent of a flower so that a moth will direct itself towards the scent, and kills itself. Each time each moth will kill itself. It is this constancy that makes them a scientific delight - you do not need to factor in a rogue element of individuality. - From The Sister, page 55-'
The Sister is a spellbinding work, one which immerses the reader completely in the story and builds to a relentless and shocking end. Adam’s development of Ginny’s character is like a slow train gathering speed and momentum. The sense of doom, of things unraveling provides the tension for the novel.
Readers who like all loose ends tied up may struggle with this book. Adams allows for reader interpretation of certain events, and Ginny’s reliability as a narrator is questionable. The Sister will appeal to readers who like to work their way through a web of information, untangling it as they go. It is a thoughtful novel which explores the darker side of human nature.
Highly recommended.
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windows at the neighbors and lives an obsessively ordered existence bordering on paranoia. Vivi, on the other hand, is socially outgoing - an older woman who looks ten years younger. Years earlier,Vivi separated herself from her family and appeared to never look back. But now she has returned and this event will become the catalyst which allows Ginny’s long repressed grievances to emerge.The novel occurs over a four day period and is narrated from Ginny’s point of view. As Ginny remembers her childhood with Vivi, the reader begins to understand the source of her neuroses. Ginny’s father, Clive, was a famous lepidopterist and Ginny assisted him with his obsessive study of moths. The moths become another character in the book, which in my opinion elevated the novel from a so-so gothic tale to an exceptional first work.
The Sister is about mental illness, addiction and the dynamics of family, but it is also about nature vs. nurture and whether or not it is choice or biology which dictates our behavior. Adams uses the moth as a symbol to underline these concepts.
'I can mimic the scent of a flower so that a moth will direct itself towards the scent, and kills itself. Each time each moth will kill itself. It is this constancy that makes them a scientific delight - you do not need to factor in a rogue element of individuality. - From The Sister, page 55-'
The Sister is a spellbinding work, one which immerses the reader completely in the story and builds to a relentless and shocking end. Adam’s development of Ginny’s character is like a slow train gathering speed and momentum. The sense of doom, of things unraveling provides the tension for the novel.
Readers who like all loose ends tied up may struggle with this book. Adams allows for reader interpretation of certain events, and Ginny’s reliability as a narrator is questionable. The Sister will appeal to readers who like to work their way through a web of information, untangling it as they go. It is a thoughtful novel which explores the darker side of human nature.
Highly recommended.
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LibraryThing member Detail_Muse
Poppy Adams's debut novel, “The Sister,” is the story of 70-year-old Ginny Stone's reunion with her three-years-younger sister after decades of estrangement. Though the title suggests a predominance of sisterly interactions, the reunion is mostly a frame on which are hung flashbacks into the
The novel is narrated in the first-person voice of Ginny, and it's clear within pages that she's a little odd. It's a notable and ambitious narration -- indeed, by immersing the reader in the unreliable mind of Ginny, the author moves the telling of a story a literary leap ahead into the showing of it.
The trouble is, unreliability and ambiguity are why people like Ginny shouldn't tell stories; they tend to frustrate readers. While there are writerly ways around that, the ambiguity here seems a deliberate mechanism to build atmosphere and suspense. Three-fourths in, I anticipated that some wow-something would weave the dozen open plot elements into a final, magnificent reveal. But it didn't happen. Although the crisis scene itself was clear, the accumulated red herrings were ignored. At that point, having felt little empathy for the characters (perhaps the author's background in documentary film-making kept the narration too objective?), I had little interest in speculating the ambiguity into clarity on my own.
(Review based on an Advance Reader’s Edition.)
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family's dysfunctional history, including a generations-long study of moths.The novel is narrated in the first-person voice of Ginny, and it's clear within pages that she's a little odd. It's a notable and ambitious narration -- indeed, by immersing the reader in the unreliable mind of Ginny, the author moves the telling of a story a literary leap ahead into the showing of it.
The trouble is, unreliability and ambiguity are why people like Ginny shouldn't tell stories; they tend to frustrate readers. While there are writerly ways around that, the ambiguity here seems a deliberate mechanism to build atmosphere and suspense. Three-fourths in, I anticipated that some wow-something would weave the dozen open plot elements into a final, magnificent reveal. But it didn't happen. Although the crisis scene itself was clear, the accumulated red herrings were ignored. At that point, having felt little empathy for the characters (perhaps the author's background in documentary film-making kept the narration too objective?), I had little interest in speculating the ambiguity into clarity on my own.
(Review based on an Advance Reader’s Edition.)
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LibraryThing member JGoto
The Sister by Poppy Adams is the haunting story of a family. The narrator, Ginny, tells the tale of her reunion with her sister, Vivian, whom she hasn’t seen in nearly fifty years. The action spans only a few days, but is full of flashbacks of their childhood & young adult years. Ginny’s voice
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is detached and unemotional throughout. Her objective telling of events gives us glimpses of the actions and reactions of the other family members and leads the reader to gradually understand that something is strangely amiss. A darkness slowly begins to envelop the story. We begin to doubt Ginny’s perceptions of the world around her and to realize nothing is quite as it seems. This first novel by Poppy Adams is a compelling read. Show Less
LibraryThing member mrstreme
In her debut novel, The Sister, former BBC producer Poppy Adams used her photographer’s eye and mind to conjure up a unique tale of two sisters, Ginny and Viv, and their lifetime of secrets that tore their family apart. The story opened with Ginny, in her seventies, waiting for the arrival of her
The Hitchcock-weird feeling of the characters can be downright bone chilling. Ginny narrated the story, and throughout her tale, little idiosyncrasies cropped up about Ginny, like her wearing of two wristwatches – one standard and one digital – that she meticulously checked for accuracy against her bedroom alarm clock. Or the drawer full of cannabis tea bags that she maintained to help her with arthritic pain but never liked to use because it caused a lack of symmetry in the drawer. Adams “spoon fed” Ginny’s personality quarks to the reader throughout The Sister, resulting in the nagging hunch that Ginny may not be a reliable narrator.
Then Adams, through Ginny’s narration, drew a picture of Vivien that was equally unsettling. Vivien was selfish and attention seeking, often manipulating her relationship with Ginny for her own gains. Ginny had a major inferiority complex with her sister, and the way Vivien was depicted, one could see why: smart, beautiful and full of creative ideas. You never get the sense though that Viv was a good person (through Ginny’s eyes), but the reader cannot doubt the love between them.
The Sister has the making of a great novel, especially for readers of Gothic literature: an old house, eccentric characters and a secret to be discovered. However, it has an obvious flaw – The Moths. The sisters’ father, Clive, was an expert in moths and taught his craft to Ginny when she was a teenager. Throughout the first half of the novel, The Moths are major characters. The reader learned about different types of moths, their importance to scientific research, how one caught them, how to kill them, how they transform from a caterpillar into a moth and what’s inside the cocoon during the transformation process.
All of this scientific knowledge took up pages of the story. While it was well written, it bogged the story down. When the reader finished, you can see how and why moths were important to The Sister’s plot, but perhaps Adams could have arrived at this point in different way. I almost abandoned The Sister because of the darned moths – and though I am glad I did not, I still have to shake my head about why they took up such a prominent place during the first half of the novel.
Once you get past The Moths, the suspense and mystery built masterfully into a real page-turner. I would recommend The Sister to readers with that disclaimer: have patience during the first half of the book and then prepare to be awed during the second. Adams made a promising debut, and I look forward to her future stories.
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sister, Vivien, who she has not seen in almost fifty years. Once Vivien arrived, the reader must decipher between a past and present story line that unravels the disastrous family secrets – and keeps the reader wondering which sister is in the right until the last few chapters.The Hitchcock-weird feeling of the characters can be downright bone chilling. Ginny narrated the story, and throughout her tale, little idiosyncrasies cropped up about Ginny, like her wearing of two wristwatches – one standard and one digital – that she meticulously checked for accuracy against her bedroom alarm clock. Or the drawer full of cannabis tea bags that she maintained to help her with arthritic pain but never liked to use because it caused a lack of symmetry in the drawer. Adams “spoon fed” Ginny’s personality quarks to the reader throughout The Sister, resulting in the nagging hunch that Ginny may not be a reliable narrator.
Then Adams, through Ginny’s narration, drew a picture of Vivien that was equally unsettling. Vivien was selfish and attention seeking, often manipulating her relationship with Ginny for her own gains. Ginny had a major inferiority complex with her sister, and the way Vivien was depicted, one could see why: smart, beautiful and full of creative ideas. You never get the sense though that Viv was a good person (through Ginny’s eyes), but the reader cannot doubt the love between them.
The Sister has the making of a great novel, especially for readers of Gothic literature: an old house, eccentric characters and a secret to be discovered. However, it has an obvious flaw – The Moths. The sisters’ father, Clive, was an expert in moths and taught his craft to Ginny when she was a teenager. Throughout the first half of the novel, The Moths are major characters. The reader learned about different types of moths, their importance to scientific research, how one caught them, how to kill them, how they transform from a caterpillar into a moth and what’s inside the cocoon during the transformation process.
All of this scientific knowledge took up pages of the story. While it was well written, it bogged the story down. When the reader finished, you can see how and why moths were important to The Sister’s plot, but perhaps Adams could have arrived at this point in different way. I almost abandoned The Sister because of the darned moths – and though I am glad I did not, I still have to shake my head about why they took up such a prominent place during the first half of the novel.
Once you get past The Moths, the suspense and mystery built masterfully into a real page-turner. I would recommend The Sister to readers with that disclaimer: have patience during the first half of the book and then prepare to be awed during the second. Adams made a promising debut, and I look forward to her future stories.
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LibraryThing member lorraineh
This book was bought for me by my brother and I began it with trepidation as I wouldnt have naturally picked it.
And i really liked it.
Its about an old lady and her interaction with her family as she grows up. This lady is 'special' and her special needs comes apparent as the book unfolds. Its
Would highly recommend
And i really liked it.
Its about an old lady and her interaction with her family as she grows up. This lady is 'special' and her special needs comes apparent as the book unfolds. Its
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clever it paces well and it has a way of making you understand how the family dealt with all its blows and issues in a gentle a sensitive manner.Would highly recommend
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LibraryThing member Twink
The novel opens with Ginny Stone awaiting the arrival of her sister Vivi, who she has not seen in over forty years. Ginny still lives in the family mansion in a small English village, but it has seen better days. It is crumbling around her and she has confined herself to four or five rooms. She has
" When you live by yourself in a house that you very rarely leave and is even more rarely visited, it's essential that you don't lose track of the time. Every minute lost- if left uncorrected - would soon accumulate to an hour, and then hours, until - as you can imagine - you could easily end up living in a completely erroneous time frame"
"What I fear is timelessness, a lack of structure in my life, an endless Now."
Ginny followed in her family's footsteps, becoming a renowned lepidopterist, a scientist who studies butterflies or moths.
Vivi on the other hand, yearned to escape what she saw as a limited and suffocating environment. Although Ginny is the older sister, Vivi was always the leader, the dreamer and the adventurer. The girls spent all their time together and seemed inseparable. Vivi seemed to take after their mother Maud - who loved company and entertaining. Ginny took after their father Clive - who was happiest when not with people.
Vivi does escape to London, where she makes a life for herself.
When Vivi arrives, the reunion is awkward. Their memories of childhood and their parents seem worlds apart.
The story is told from Ginny's viewpoint. We are tantalized by snippets from the past and then back to the present.
Adams has certainly done her research on the world of moths and butterflies. I must admit that I started skipping passages that detailed this. On the other hand, this detail just adds to drawing the characters of Clive and Ginny as this is their world.
Ginny's character is well developed. I was able to connect with her loneliness and confusion. The progression of her will as secrets, incidents and anger are exposed is very believable. Although we are left wanting to know more of Vivi's life away, this lack of knowledge is exactly what Ginny has. We can empathize with her confusion and unravelling.
This novel has a distinct Gothic feel about it. A delicious British tale of dysfunctional family relationships and the havoc they can wreak.
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no television, no phone, no radio and no visitors. She never leaves the house. Provisions are brought by the son of one of the old caretakers every couple of weeks. She is obsessed with time." When you live by yourself in a house that you very rarely leave and is even more rarely visited, it's essential that you don't lose track of the time. Every minute lost- if left uncorrected - would soon accumulate to an hour, and then hours, until - as you can imagine - you could easily end up living in a completely erroneous time frame"
"What I fear is timelessness, a lack of structure in my life, an endless Now."
Ginny followed in her family's footsteps, becoming a renowned lepidopterist, a scientist who studies butterflies or moths.
Vivi on the other hand, yearned to escape what she saw as a limited and suffocating environment. Although Ginny is the older sister, Vivi was always the leader, the dreamer and the adventurer. The girls spent all their time together and seemed inseparable. Vivi seemed to take after their mother Maud - who loved company and entertaining. Ginny took after their father Clive - who was happiest when not with people.
Vivi does escape to London, where she makes a life for herself.
When Vivi arrives, the reunion is awkward. Their memories of childhood and their parents seem worlds apart.
The story is told from Ginny's viewpoint. We are tantalized by snippets from the past and then back to the present.
Adams has certainly done her research on the world of moths and butterflies. I must admit that I started skipping passages that detailed this. On the other hand, this detail just adds to drawing the characters of Clive and Ginny as this is their world.
Ginny's character is well developed. I was able to connect with her loneliness and confusion. The progression of her will as secrets, incidents and anger are exposed is very believable. Although we are left wanting to know more of Vivi's life away, this lack of knowledge is exactly what Ginny has. We can empathize with her confusion and unravelling.
This novel has a distinct Gothic feel about it. A delicious British tale of dysfunctional family relationships and the havoc they can wreak.
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LibraryThing member AnglersRest
This was the May read for my book group and I opened the pages quite keen to get started. From the beginning I felt a sense of familiarity with A Place of Secrets by Rachel Hore, although the storyline did not share any similarities beyond the depth of research done by the authors, so just why I
The storyline is complex and the author weaves a series of threads and genres within the pages.
The book contains four central characters, all members of one family who live in a rather large house in a large estate in Dorset. The house description was atmospheric, and built in the mid Victorian period and I could visualise a gothic looking house with a foreboding mist surrounding the building, which almost felt sinister.
The family are dysfunctional - father Clive is a self absorbed individual, a naturist and has quite a collection of moths. The research on the moths was astounding and very interesting. Mother, Maud is a troubled woman who tries to keep the family grounded and has a secret or two. The daughters, Ginny and Vivien are close as children, but as time passes by they are like strangers, which is not helped by the fact that Vivian has not been home to the family estate for around 50 years.
Each individual has their secrets and there is almost too many. There are several medical themes through the book; of mental instability, Aspergers or Autism, Alcoholism, Aging and decay, and different levels of abuse.
This is a busy novel, with lots going on and yet nothing is explained fully, which means that the reader can form an opinion about the characters and their actions.
Did I enjoy it? Actually yes, I found the detail of the moths fascinating, but wonder if there was too much detail about this. I would have liked more details of the house and perhaps definitive answers to some of the questions that the book produced.
Overall, a good read and it is hard to believe that this is a first novel for the author, who researched the various details very well. The book is cleverly written, with the decay of the house is almost reflective of the family.
Published as The Sister in the US and as The Behaviour of Moths in the UK.
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felt this familiarity I am not sure.The storyline is complex and the author weaves a series of threads and genres within the pages.
The book contains four central characters, all members of one family who live in a rather large house in a large estate in Dorset. The house description was atmospheric, and built in the mid Victorian period and I could visualise a gothic looking house with a foreboding mist surrounding the building, which almost felt sinister.
The family are dysfunctional - father Clive is a self absorbed individual, a naturist and has quite a collection of moths. The research on the moths was astounding and very interesting. Mother, Maud is a troubled woman who tries to keep the family grounded and has a secret or two. The daughters, Ginny and Vivien are close as children, but as time passes by they are like strangers, which is not helped by the fact that Vivian has not been home to the family estate for around 50 years.
Each individual has their secrets and there is almost too many. There are several medical themes through the book; of mental instability, Aspergers or Autism, Alcoholism, Aging and decay, and different levels of abuse.
This is a busy novel, with lots going on and yet nothing is explained fully, which means that the reader can form an opinion about the characters and their actions.
Did I enjoy it? Actually yes, I found the detail of the moths fascinating, but wonder if there was too much detail about this. I would have liked more details of the house and perhaps definitive answers to some of the questions that the book produced.
Overall, a good read and it is hard to believe that this is a first novel for the author, who researched the various details very well. The book is cleverly written, with the decay of the house is almost reflective of the family.
Published as The Sister in the US and as The Behaviour of Moths in the UK.
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LibraryThing member tinfoilspider13
this was one of my charity shop buys and i knew nothing about it. i have to say im really pleased i bought it as it turned out to be a fascintating and gripping book.the story pans out really nicely with no moments of dullness, even with all the technical information about lepidoptary. if you like
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a bit of a thriller with a twist i can really recommend this. Show Less
LibraryThing member audryh
Reunited after a forty-year estrangement, Ginny, a solitary lepidopterist living in the crumbling family home in rural Britain, and Vivien, who had fled her family's eccentricities for the normalcy of London, struggle to come to terms with their stormy past and a web of hidden family secrets. ('08)
LibraryThing member avanders
Review based on ARC.
This was a fascinating book, by all accounts. The narrator of the book appears, at first glance, to be a "normal" elderly woman, waiting for her sister after almost 50 years of absence. The story she tells is strange and traumatic, yet as the novel progresses, the reader becomes
This was a fascinating book, by all accounts. The narrator of the book appears, at first glance, to be a "normal" elderly woman, waiting for her sister after almost 50 years of absence. The story she tells is strange and traumatic, yet as the novel progresses, the reader becomes
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aware that there is not just a little bit hiding below the surface. Through inconsistencies in the narrator's story (not, however, in the author's) and questions almost begging to be asked (though, notably, not answered by the narrator), the reader becomes aware that there is an entire iceberg waiting to be discovered. I found myself quickly drawn into the story--particularly into that which occurred in the past. The only complaint I really had was that there were a few occasions where I felt the author spent just a little too long on scientific details (the butterfly/moth details). In the end, I did understand why this was done, but I felt that this result could easily have been accomplished with just a *little* paring down, leaving the reader feeling fully satisfied, yet not bogged down. All in all, a great read and very refreshing to find something unformulaic and original! Recommended! Show Less
LibraryThing member readingrat
Ginny and Vivi are two sisters growing up in the English countryside. Ginny is an introvert and is expected to follow in her father's footsteps in his chosen field of lepidoptery. Vivi is an extrovert who longs to escape the country house and find a life for herself in the city. Told in a series of
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flashbacks his story follows the two sisters and their parents as the girls mature and begin their adult lives. However, the sudden death of the girls' mother rips the family apart. Now nearly 50 years later the sisters are living under the same roof again. But both sisters have questions about the events of so long ago and how to begin to live together again. What results is a compelling exploration of family relationships and personal perceptions. Show Less
LibraryThing member jenniferthomp75
A brilliant debut novel by Adams. Ginny is a reclusive, self-declared "well-known" lepidopterist who lives alone in a Victorian mansion in England. After 50 years of estrangement, Ginny's sister Vivien comes home for a visit. During the weekend that follows, family secrets are told and the girls'
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dysfunctional upbringing is revealed. Excellent gothic drama told from a first person narrative. Ginny's thoughts and rationalizations are fascinating and disturbing. Highly recommended to fans of gothic horror and British mysteries. Show Less
LibraryThing member CasualFriday
When I read reviewsd that evoked The Thirteenth Tale and Whatever Happenend to Baby Jane, I knew I had to read this book. Ginny, an elderly English lady lives as a complete recluse in a moldering country mansion. Her sister Vivien arrives at her doorstep after almost a 50-year absence, and turns
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Ginny's carefully constructed existence upside down. It's an easy read, and very entertaining if you're a sucker for all those gothic trappings, as I am. Ginny and her father were llepidopterists, and some people may find the extensive details on moths to be a bit much, but I enjoyed it. My only criticism is that the ending doesn't live up to the rest of the book. Not that it's a bad or unsatisfying ending, but with everything that went before, I expected something that would pack more of a wallop. Show Less
LibraryThing member nancyewhite
I enjoyed Poppy Adams's debut novel a great deal. Shortly after meeting the narrator, Ginny, we share her questions, "Why is her sister Vivi coming home now after a nearly 5 decade absence? What does she want?" Soon we discover that something seems off with Ginny. Her viewpoint is skewed in a way
The story takes place over a few days after Vivi's return, but also jumps back in time to paint a portrait of a very odd family who by turns seem eccentric and crazy. The setting of a mostly closed off crumbling gothic mansion with no furniture adds to the creepy feeling.
There is a fair amount of detailed focus on Ginny and her father's study of moths. Some readers complain about that emphasis, but I found it added to the story generally. There was a time or two towards the end where I felt that the detail interrupted the narrative flow, but I also felt that having flow interrupted by a focus on moths was true for Ginny as well.
We never hear another voice besides Ginny's which makes this all the more enoyable because the ground is always shifting a little underfoot as we strain to understand what is true and what is off due to the weird filter of Ginny's voice. Given Adams's strict adherence to never showing us a viewpoint other than Ginny's, I feel okay about there being many unanswered questions at the end of this book.
In some ways, this book is hard to review without giving away details that should be left for the reader to discover in the story itself. Let me just say, I sped through it in my eagerness to figure it out.
Review pertains to Advance Reader's Edition.
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that is hard to put a finger on but is nevertheless quite obviously erratic. The story takes place over a few days after Vivi's return, but also jumps back in time to paint a portrait of a very odd family who by turns seem eccentric and crazy. The setting of a mostly closed off crumbling gothic mansion with no furniture adds to the creepy feeling.
There is a fair amount of detailed focus on Ginny and her father's study of moths. Some readers complain about that emphasis, but I found it added to the story generally. There was a time or two towards the end where I felt that the detail interrupted the narrative flow, but I also felt that having flow interrupted by a focus on moths was true for Ginny as well.
We never hear another voice besides Ginny's which makes this all the more enoyable because the ground is always shifting a little underfoot as we strain to understand what is true and what is off due to the weird filter of Ginny's voice. Given Adams's strict adherence to never showing us a viewpoint other than Ginny's, I feel okay about there being many unanswered questions at the end of this book.
In some ways, this book is hard to review without giving away details that should be left for the reader to discover in the story itself. Let me just say, I sped through it in my eagerness to figure it out.
Review pertains to Advance Reader's Edition.
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LibraryThing member gretchenlg
I found this book to be rather slow, and dissatisfying at the end. I read somewhere that it was similar to The Thirteenth Tale and must heartily disagree. I didn't find the characters engaging and the plot sagged, although I thought it had real potential.
Awards
Costa Book Awards (Shortlist — First Novel — 2008)
Waverton Good Read Award (Longlist — 2008)
Desmond Elliott Prize (Longlist — 2009)
Language
Original publication date
2008-06-17
Physical description
320 p.; 8.66 inches
ISBN
1844084868 / 9781844084869