Sisters: A Novel

Written by Daisy Johnson

Narrated by Daisy Edgar-Jones and Anna Koval

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR

“[A] skillfully crafted gothic mystery . . . Johnson pulls off a great feat in this book.” —Financial Times

“It reminded me, in its general refusal to play nice, of early Ian McEwan.” —The New York Times Book Review

“Johnson crafts an aching thriller about the dangers of loving too intensely.” —Time

From a Booker Prize finalist and international literary star: a blazing portrait of one darkly riveting sibling relationship, from the inside out.

“One of her generation’s most intriguing authors” (Entertainment Weekly), Daisy Johnson is the youngest writer to have been shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. Now she returns with Sisters, a haunting story about two sisters caught in a powerful emotional web and wrestling to understand where one ends and the other begins.

Born just ten months apart, July and September are thick as thieves, never needing anyone but each other. Now, following a case of school bullying, the teens have moved away with their single mother to a long-abandoned family home near the shore. In their new, isolated life, July finds that the deep bond she has always shared with September is shifting in ways she cannot entirely understand. A creeping sense of dread and unease descends inside the house. Meanwhile, outside, the sisters push boundaries of behavior—until a series of shocking encounters tests the limits of their shared experience, and forces shocking revelations about the girls’ past and future.

Written with radically inventive language and imagery by an author whose work has been described as “entrancing” (The New Yorker), “a force of nature” (The New York Times Book Review), and “weird and wild and wonderfully unsettling” (Celeste Ng), Sisters is a one-two punch of wild fury and heartache—a taut, powerful, and deeply moving account of sibling love and what happens when two sisters must face each other’s darkest impulses.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Audio
• Release date: Aug 25, 2020
• ISBN: 9780593211595

Daisy Johnson

Daisy Johnson was born in 1990 and currently lives in Oxford. Her short fiction has appeared in the Boston Review and the Warwick Review, among others. In 2014, she was the recipient of the AM Heath prize. Fen is her first collection of stories. Her debut novel will be published by Jonathan Cape in 2018.

Reviews for Sisters

[froxgirl · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A lesser version of Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived in the Castle, with an expected twist. Meh.

[icolford · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

An obsessive sibling bond is the driving force behind Daisy Johnson’s novel Sisters, her gothic-tinged follow-up to her first novel, the Booker Prize-shortlisted Everything Under. September and July are the sisters in question, teenage daughters of Sheela and Peter. Born ten months apart, the girls might as well be twins, they are that close in every respect. So close that their teachers have expressed concern, stating that their connection leaves them “isolated, uninterested, conjoined, young for their age, sometimes moved to great cruelty.” As the novel begins, we learn that Sheela, July and September are fleeing the aftermath of a catastrophic event that took place at the girls’ school, leaving their home in Oxford for a house in coastal Yorkshire. It is soon revealed that Peter is dead—victim of a drowning incident—that he was violent and abusive and had been separated from his wife and children for several years at the time of his death. The house in Yorkshire was Peter’s childhood home and belongs to Peter’s sister. Sheela and the girls have been there before; in fact September was born there. But “Settle House,” as it is known, is run down, secluded, creepy: hardly a comforting refuge. Sheela spends most of her time locked in her room, either working (she writes books for children based on her daughters’ fictional adventures) or sleeping, venturing out at night for food and to perform household chores. In the meantime, the girls play games and explore the house and surrounding area. At one point, July and September join a group of young people partying after dark on the beach, an encounter that, in July’s boozy recollection, results in September losing her virginity. At an early point the reader will realize that September’s personality dominates the relationship—that she has a vengeful streak and enjoys taking risks and pushing boundaries—and that July is the follower. Particularly alarming (because of its potential for violence) is the game “September says,” in which July must comply with whatever her sister tells her to do so long as the directive is prefaced by the phrase “September says.” (ie, “September says eat all the mayonnaise.”) Along the way, Johnson drops veiled hints regarding the triggering event that drove the family out of Oxford. This taut, disturbing narrative comes to us mainly via July’s twitchy first-person perspective, briefly interrupted by third-person sections told from Sheela’s more passive point of view. As the action approaches a climax, July grows increasingly distressed by memories pushing through to the surface, and as her agitation deepens the story becomes fractured and surreal. Sisters, blending elements of horror and suspense, generates a peculiar kind of unease. Readers will respond to the ending in a variety of ways, which will make for some lively book-club discussions. But there can be no doubt that Daisy Johnson’s edgy talent and uniquely skewed perspective on the human psyche set her apart from the majority of her contemporaries.

[proustitute_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Sisters is an eerie, disconcerting novel about a sadomasochistic, self-sacrificing, and unhealthily symbiotic relationship between two sisters, September and July, born just ten months apart. Living isolated in Yorkshire after an incident at school back in Oxford changes their world, the novel’s claustrophobic and insular world is mirrored by Johnson’s shining prose here.

At times like a chamber drama, and at other times taking a step back to paint broader strokes like a twisted folk tale, the story itself is fairly predictable; however, it’s in the way Johnson paints the inner world of July—not to mention her creepy, taut, supple sentences—that really shines.

Sisters is definitely new territory for Johnson, and that hesitancy does make itself manifest here.

3.5 stars rounded up

[josephcamilleri-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In the acknowledgments section at the end of the book, Daisy Johnson thanks her mother “for watching horror films she doesn’t really want to watch with [her]”. I am not surprised. Sisters is a horror story. Of course, given that Johnson is a Booker-shortlisted author, her latest novel will be admired by many readers who would not generally touch the genre with a barge pole. But make no mistake – it’s horror alright.

Sisters starts with that most Gothic of tropes – the haunted house. Sheela and her two teenage daughters July and September leave Oxford and arrive at a cottage in Yorkshire. The place is “rankled, bentoutashape, dirtyallover”. It’s creepy and unwelcoming (literally so… they cannot find the key supposedly hidden beneath a stone frog and the girls have to jump in through a window). Throughout the novel the house heaves and sighs as if alive, as if its walls and ceilings were pressing upon its new inhabitants. The house also has a habit of hijacking the thoughts of the characters. In one of the novel’s many surreal moments, July sees a bird force itself out of one of the house’s walls. Sheela, the mother, finds parallels between herself and the cottage:

She has always known that houses are bodies and that her body is a house in more ways than most. She had housed those beautiful daughters, hadn’t she, and she had housed depression all through her life like a smaller, weightier child… There are so many noises she cannot sleep. In the night, mostly, thumps and thundering, the sound of many footsteps, the crash of windows opening and closing, the crash of windows opening and closing, sudden explosions which sound like shouting… At times, awoken in the darkness, she things again about how that house is, more than any other, a body.

There are other horror tropes aplenty. For much of the novel, the first person narrator is July. It soon becomes clear that she has an unhealthily close relationship with her sister September, who is just ten months older than she is. They are inseparable in a manner which is at times touching and loving, but more often, than not, disturbing. The disorientating thought processes of July are challenging to follow, but suggest that she is in thrall to September, who has the stronger character of the two and a violent streak to go with it. We also realise that the family is blighted by mental health problems, violence and abuse. There are certain chapters of the novel which are presented in the third person from Sheela’s perspective. The narrative in these segments is clearer, and solves some of the many questions raised by July’s account. However, the mother’s explanations only serve to confirm the past episodes of rage and abuse which still cast a shadow over the family. The feeling of dread and terror is ever present. More importantly, the novel is underpinned by that niggling doubt which often characterises the best Gothic tales – is there any truth to the novel’s apparently supernatural or fantastical elements?

What is brilliant about Sisters is the way in which Johnson combines striking images and poetic language with horror and thriller elements to convey the ramblings of disturbed teenage minds. What is less impressive is the plot and the way it is handled. As the novel progresses, one cannot help suspecting that the author is holding back key details, in order to build up to a Night-Shyamalan-like twist and which does, eventually, arrive (that is why most reviews of the novel are peppered with *spoiler alerts*). Yet, the twist is underwhelming and not really worth the contrivances leading to the final revelation.

So, do read Sisters for the insightful characterizations, the great writing and for its original use of genre tropes. However, if its page-turning plots you're after, there are plenty of psychological thrillers that are probably better at providing thrills and chills.

3.5*

[beth.clarke · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

3.5 Stars. A complex plot with a few twists makes this psychological thrilled good, but not great. The sisters' relationship was clearly corrupt and leads to a dark, fairly predictable conclusion.

[viviennestrauss · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Fantastic! Deeply felt, terrifying and sad.

[arubabookwoman · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Following an "incident" at school sisters July and September are taken by their mother, who is apparently grieving and depressed, to an isolated cottage near the sea. The mother retreats to her room, and the sisters are left to their own devices. This is described as a gothic novella a la Shirley Jackson, and that is a fairly accurate description. We have unreliable narrators, not telling us the whole story (or who perhaps are too traumatized to know/remember the whole story), and lots of play between what is real and what is hallucination. There was a lot of psychological suspense in this quick read. It's very well done, but I'm not sure there is a lot of substance here.

3 stars

[ridgewaygirl · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

July and September, sisters born less than a year apart, have been taken by their mother to an isolated house on the Yorkshire coast. There was an incident at school back in Oxford, and their mother isn't doing very well, spending long hours in her room with the door closed as July and her older sister figure out how to pass the time.

This novel is told from the close point-of-view of July, as she avoids thinking about the incident at school. She and her sister have always been so close, moving in tandem and insisting on sharing a birthday. But isolated and without any adult guidance, July is beginning to realize that she doesn't always want to do what September wants.

I love deeply interior novels like this one, where all we see is what a character sees and thinks and experiences. It can be claustrophobic, but also intimate. Here, July is a teenager whose feelings are confused and contradictory and Johnson has given her such a distinctive, uncertain voice. Hiding a crucial event can seem like authorial manipulation, but Johnson is an assured enough writer to pull it off beautifully. I very much enjoyed this one.

[librarygeek33 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Psychological and strange. This is not for everyone but, as a younger sister, I found some eerie truths about sibling relationships. Excellent writing holds this haunting tale together and keeps the reader engaged to the end.
Has some language and references that may put off some gentle readers.

[iudita_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Very dark and a bit creepy with lots of tension. The ending left me a bit frustrated but it was still very enjoyable for the gothic, creepy factor. Leans more toward literary than genre for those that are looking for a thriller.

[carriewuj · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

2.5 A really conceptual book - including the fractured cover image. All designed to make the reader feel a little off-kilter, which isn't my favorite reaction when reading a book and the reason I didn't rate this higher. September and July are sisters, just 10 months apart, and almost as close as twins in the way they connect on a visceral level. The book starts with a 'poem' with various endings to the sentence: "My sister is" (a tornado, bricked up window, a forest on fire, etc) which presages an idea of their closeness, but also destruction. September is older and has a mean streak which she demonstrates in the way she wields power over July. For example, their game of September Says, in which the older sister devises escalating ways to make July put herself in danger. July's attitude toward her sister: "...she is the person I always wanted to be. I am a shape cut out of the universe, tinged with ever-dying stars - and that she is the creature to fill the gap I leave in the world." p. 91 The sisters are exclusive and anti-social and just a little bit creepy and odd. Their mother Sheela, a children's book author/illustrator of stories that feature the girls (hello, Gone, Girl) is a single mother (her husband was abusive: "He was like a black hole and nothing caught in his gravitational pull could survive for long" p. 103) and she is a little bit afraid of the girls. She is also a little damaged herself - debilitated by bouts of intense depression in which she leaves the girls completely unsupervised. The ominous tone of the book lets us know something awful recently happened at school. Hints about July being bullied and September being out for vengeance are dropped at regular intervals, but the truth is elusive until the very end and it isn't at all what I was anticipating. This wounded family is currently recovering at Settle House, a dilapidated family estate in the English seaside area where they have come in other times of crisis, which adds to the creepy factor. Some beautiful writing and profound statements, but reading this just made me feel squirmy and uncomfortable. Great quote: "Grief is a house with no windows or doors and no way of telling the time." p.197

[miss.mesmerized · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Two sisters, September and July, just 10 months apart in age but sticking together like twins, even more, just as if they were only one person. In Oxford, where they first lived with their mother, an author of children’s books featuring two girls just like her own daughters, they were always in trouble and didn’t make friends with the other kids. By moving to the old family house, their mother hopes things will get easier. However, the spooky surroundings with walls who could tell decades of dark stories, triggers something between the girls which makes their unhealthy bond even more dangerous for the younger and weaker of the two sisters.

Daisy Johnson portrays a sisterly connection which goes far beyond what is known to link siblings. The fact that the girls are born within only a couple of months makes them grow up and experience everything together. They are like one person separated incidentally, also their character seems to have split in the two: September the wild and furious one, July, in contrast, obedient and more thoughtful. Since she is younger, she easily gives in to her sister’s will and thus follows without ever challenging her.

The atmosphere is gloomy in every line. Right from the start, you sense that some catastrophe is looming and just waiting to present itself. Even though at times, the sisterly bond also seems to be protective, the negative impact is obvious. Their mother is detached, she suffers from a depression which makes it impossible for her to see what is coming, she senses that the relationship her daughters have formed in detrimental, even harmful for July, but she is unable to do something about it.

An intense and vivid narrative with quite some eerie notes.

[brangwinn · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Three things jump out at me after reading this short book. The first is that the artist who conceived the cover of the book really had read the book and understood the essence of the story. It is a puzzling story, where you see the parts but its not until the end that the reader understands what is going on. The second thing is that the Daisy Johnson is a master at foreshadowing. From the beginning you know something terrible happened to teenaged September and July. Their single mom, Sheena, has moved them to a remote house on the coast, leaving their former home of Oxford behind. You know it is so terrible, that July has totally blocked what happened. The third thing that stands out to me is the author’ ability with language. In only 224 pages, Johnson is able to convey the sinister mood of the story through the descriptions of the disgusting house they’ve moved into, their mother’s mental state, and July’s thoughts. Yes, at times the book is confusing, but that is by design. The reader needs to feel the confusion July feels as she narrates the story. The gaps, the spookiness of the story and the location are all there by design.

[runner56_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A difficult book for me to rate simply because the style of prose used (best described as lyrical) is not to my liking, and I can see that many reviewers loved it. July and September have moved with their mum Sheela to an old family home once deserted now with new occupants, all hoping for a fresh start. However “Settle House” appears to have its own agenda, an unsettling place to live with its ghostly noises and hidden places. Two young, barely teenage, girls face an uncertain future. September is the controlling sister always seeking attention and July often feels inadequate in her shadow. Little support is forthcoming from Sheela lost in a fog of despair, with no partner, finding comfort in the arms of passing strangers. A short read, with a brutal ending, from a young and very talented author. Many thanks to the good people at netgalley for a gratis copy in exchange for an honest review and that is what I have written.