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by The Sisters Mortland Sally Beauman is a master storyteller at the top of her form, as she weaves a spellbinding tale of three sisters and the men in their world. It's the summer of 1967 in Suffolk, England, where the Mortlands -- glamorous Julia; intellectual Finn, and the imaginative 13-year-old Maisie, along with their mother, Stella and their grandfather -- live in a medieval abbey. Maisie is the narrator in the opening chapters. She "talks" to the long dead nuns who lived in the abbey, and is haunted by the death of their father. Lucas Feld, a starving young artist, has been hired by Stella to paint a portrait of the sisters. Lucas uncannily captures the passion, heartbreak and mystery of the bittersweet summer spent with Julia and Finn, both entangled in affairs of the heart, while the strange child, Maisie, observes. Beauman's characters are captivating and charismatic as they appear in a strange tale that plays out in gothic, emotional suspense, with unimaginable beauty and pain. The handsome young gypsy, Dan, with his Romany passion, his suave, intellectual best friend Nick, and the artistic genius, Lucas with his laid-back, devil may care attitude, are the girls' tangled love interests. But a horrific tragedy, with shocking repercussions, the details of which Beauman reveals over the rest of the novel, kept me enthralled and glued to the pages. The twisting plot of this unique story turned my emotions upside down, and I am sure The Sisters Mortland will haunt me from now on. I read Beauman's Destiny some years back, but had neglected to read her subsequent novels. The Sisters Mortland has sent me to the Internet to find her other books. I have definitely become a Sally Beauman fan. |
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The Sisters Mortland