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There are currently 25 member reviews
for Vanessa and Her Sister
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Patricia W. (Richmond, VA)
Vanessa and her Sister -- Tales of the Bloomsbury Group
How often have we heard the line "you can't make this up?". In the case of the Bloomsbury Group, the question seems to answer itself. Vanessa and Her Sister is the story, not only of the two young ladies, but also of the circle of friends who surrounded them with all their foibles, eccentricities, self-indulgence and betrayals. Told through a variety of methods -- journal entries, letters, and telegrams -- the story grabs and holds and the pages seemed to sail by. Virginia's and Vanessa's story was particularly disturbing (but compelling) but I did think that there were too many parallel stories making it difficult to keep all the characters straight. However, that is a minor complaint and overall think the book is a great read about a hugely interesting group and an interesting time in literary and artistic history.
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Beth M. (NY, NY)
Sister bonds that tie
Vanessa and her Sister is a beautifully written story told through a first person narrative from a journal that Vanessa kept, interspersed with tickets, announcements and letters saved from friends. Parmar does an excellent job of giving Vanessa a clear, funny, smart and very human voice. Vanessa's loving but conflicted relationship with her sister, her crumbling marriage, and her friendship with Litton Strachey and others is depicted in a compelling, sympathetic tone. Vanessa was the anchor in the life of her exhausting, often manipulative but gifted sister Virginia. The interesting question becomes can she chose a life of her own, one with joy and love over her loyalty to her sister? The answer unfolds in a way that rings true to the bonds and strains of sister relationships.
The novel takes place from 1905-1912. The influence of the Bloomsbury Group is strongly felt. They were an eccentric group of mostly Cambridge educated men who would meet at the Stephen's house on Thursdays to discuss books and art. They had free spirited opinions about life and love and their exploration of open marriages, homosexuality, bisexuality was surprisingly current.
Overall I really enjoyed this story. I felt there were some problems with the pacing and the number of characters who flitted through the pages but the sisters relationship really touched my heart.
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Carolyn S. (Decatur, GA)
Vanessa and Her Sister
While Vanessa and Her Sister was filled with very interesting stories of the era, I thought is was difficult to read. The printed form of the book was very pleasing, but having all the letters and telegraphs back and forth made it a bit confusing at times.
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Bobbie D. (Boca Raton, FL)
Two Sisters
Vanessa and her Sister is a work of historical fiction which mostly takes place in London and the surrounding countryside in the early 1900's.
The older sister, Vanessa, is the narrator and the rest of the book is a series of letters written by Vanessa, her sister Virginia, and other characters.
Vanessa is the artist, Virginia is the writer, and the others are mostly related to the world of art and literature.
Virginia is terribly jealous of anything and anyone that Vanessa has including her husband and goes after them all to secure them for herself.
The book is full of infidelity and homosexuality among "to the manor born".
I found the story extremely slow in the beginning and it did not get a lot better or much more interesting.
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