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A Circle of Sisters: Alice Kipling, Georgiana Burne-Jones, Agnes Poynter and Louisa Baldwin
 
 
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A Circle of Sisters: Alice Kipling, Georgiana Burne-Jones, Agnes Poynter and Louisa Baldwin (Paperback)

by Judith Flanders (Author) "Four women connect four men by a slender but steely thread ..." (more)
4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
RRP: £9.99
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Product details

  • Paperback: 416 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin; New Ed edition (2 May 2002)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0140284893
  • ISBN-13: 978-0140284898
  • Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.2 x 3.2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 114,745 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #37 in  Books > Poetry, Drama & Criticism > History & Criticism > Novels & Novelists > 19th Century
    #59 in  Books > Poetry, Drama & Criticism > History & Criticism > Literary Studies > 19th Century
    #64 in  Books > Biography > Historical > Britain > Georgian to Victorian: 1701-1900

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Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review

Circle of Sisters is a new collective biography of the four Macdonald sisters, two of whom married the famous painters Edward Burne-Jones and Edward Poynter, while the other two married Lockwood Kipling and Alfred Baldwin and produced between them a poet laureate and a prime minister. The daughters of a Methodist preacher, the four sisters led diverse and cosmopolitan lifestyles by Victorian standards, even if they remained throughout the subordinate siblings and partners of their menfolk. The story of the Macdonald family has been told before--notably in Ina Taylor's Victorian Sisters (1987--and although Flanders' account is better written, with more colour and detail, and with a finer appreciation of both the Macdonald forebears and the upbringing of the four girls, the book does not really live up to its billing. The author promises a book about private women, domestic life and the rhythms of family, subjects on which some of the best Victorian historians around have been working for a generation--for example, Leonore Davidoff and Catherine Hall in their influential Family Fortunes (1986). But we do not really get this. Circle of Sisters becomes too easily a conventional account of famous fathers and sons (Rudyard Kipling gets more space than Alice his mother). It is readable and undemanding biography, but hardly amounts to challenging history. We simply never learn enough about what made the sisters tick as daughters, wives or mothers. --Miles Taylor --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.


Product Description

The Macdonald sisters -- Alice, Georgiana, Agnes and Louisa -- started life among the ranks of the lower-middle classes, with little prospect of social advancement. But as wives and mothers they made a single family of the poet Rudyard Kipling, the Pre-Raphaelite painter Edward Burne-Jones, Edward Poynter, President of the Royal Academy, and the Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin. In telling their remarkable story, Judith Flanders displays the fluidity of Victorian society, and explores the life of the family in the 19th century.
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Four women connect four men by a slender but steely thread. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews

5 Reviews
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4 star:
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3 star:    (0)
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Average Customer Review
4.8 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A Circle of Sisters, 20 Jul 2002
By karon (London United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
I was compelled from the start: a lower middle-class Methodist family 4 of whose daughters were protagonists in the lives of 4 influential and eminent Victorian men. This book skillfully sets up and contextualises the atmosphere of a mid 19th century England, in which women were defined by their roles as daughters, wives and mothers, and whose lives were effectively over once childbearing was complete.

The first half of the book elegantly opens up the world of the sisters, giving us both insight into their perceptions of their lives and the perceptions that society maintained about the lives of women.

As the book progresses a transition occurs - the lives of the sisters play second fiddle to those of their husbands and sons, as fascination about the men's lives become overpowering in their detail. The book, inadvertently, is an illustration of the invisibility of the Victorian woman who has fulfilled her function of bringing her men to the fore.

By two thirds of the way into the book the sisters are mentioned only in passing. There is no longer any sense of depth in their perceptions of those exerting influence around them, and little discourse of their attitudes and behaviours in relation to the way that Victorian values and mores were changing throughout the century. This despite the fact that each sister produced prolific correspondence, and 3 of whom were published authors.

There is strong evidence of the thorough research and work that the author has undertaken, and it is a shame that the sisters fade out of the book rather. Although they may have faded in the minds of those around them, the very fact that we now have a book dedicated to them suggests that they deserve a well rounded finish.

The 4 star rating reflects my unfulfilled expectations of the book. However, it deserves 5 stars for the author's writing skills, her ability to bring together intelligibly the strands of so many complex characters, her ability to hold an audience and her choice of subject. I look forward to her next publication.

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8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating historical,domestic and social biography, 4 Oct 2001
By kmarkham@eircom.net (Dublin, Ireland) - See all my reviews
This review is from: A Circle of Sisters (Hardcover)
A fascinating historical, domestic and social biography of four sisters from a middle-class, Victorian and devout Methodist family who because of marriage and motherhood were part of the lives of some influential men. More than a portrait of the sisters, it is a fascinating depiction of the social and domestic existence that was took up so much of daily life in those times. In our world of electrical labour-saving devices it is fascinating to read about the daily grind of keeping a house and clothing cleaned and hard to imagine that women had time for anything else. Yet these women were talented in their own rights whether as writers or artists.

I was given this book by a friend and would not normally read non-fiction about the Victorian era. However, the obviously large amount of research which has gone into it only adds to the enjoyment of reading. Lively and wittily written, I found I didn't want to put it down. The book brings the Victorian era alive with humour and wit.

Highly recommended.

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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A brilliant view into the life of the "Victorian Woman", 12 Sep 2001
This review is from: A Circle of Sisters (Hardcover)
Circle of Sisters was a fascinating read as Flanders has an eye for detail that gets you right into the heart of the time. Not only is it well written, but the author chooses a difficult path to biography by writing about the lives of four women who were obscured by the achievments of the men in their lives. It is clear, after having read this book, that the sisters' roles were so central and yet their lives so constrained. Flanders gives us great insight into the worlds that the women created each for themselves and at no time does she use a broad brush to suggest a singular theory of the life of the "Victorian Woman" but has the postmodern vision to understand each one of them as both complex individuals AND women subject to a certain era. An innovative and exciting turn for biography in general. I can't wait for her next book!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A terrific read!
Judith Flanders writes a book which will appeal to everyone. She has done an exhaustive amount of research on the sisters and the times in which they lived and tells their story... Read more
Published on 3 Sep 2001 by sef399@hotmail.com

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent read!
The author has done extensive research and portrays both the characters and their times with keen insight and fascinating details. Read more
Published on 30 Aug 2001

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