Born into a long line of distinguished lepidopterists, scientists who study moths and butterflies, Ginny and Vivien grew up in a sprawling Victoria...
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Oct 12, 2010
Everyman
rated it: 
The thesis of this book is marginally interesting. The protagonist, now in her 60s, is a recluse with significant mental problems who has lived alone in the crumbling family mansion for several decades. Her sister, whom she has not seen for thirty years, has decided to move "home" for her retirement. The action takes place over a long weekend, but there are extensive flashbacks to fill in the background.
The family are leipdopterists, and the book is filled with far too m More...
The family are leipdopterists, and the book is filled with far too m More...
Dec 13, 2009
Ashley
rated it: 
This novel is a fascinating exploration of the ways in which the mind can work, distort, and deteriorate. At the outset, this seems to be a fairly simple story of estranged sisters reuniting in their old age. While I could tell from reading the jacket that the real story would probably come in the possible scandal or heartbreak of their estrangement, I wasn't expecting the instability of the narrator.
It's the little things that tip you off gradually to what is happening here. Once yo More...
It's the little things that tip you off gradually to what is happening here. Once yo More...
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Jan 22, 2012
Kinga
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Two sisters see meet again after years of estrangement. The air is heavy with resentment and grudges. We learn the story from Ginny the narrator. We hope to get the unbiased account of events because Ginny is supposed to be the reasonable and sensible one, the scientist. Sometimes later we, of course, realise she is a completely unreliable narrator, but as is often in such cases, we can't help but see logic in her reasoning (that bit always worries me, just how far am I from becoming mad myself?
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Jul 23, 2008
Jim
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This book was loaned to me by a friend of mine who described it as the strangest book she had ever read. My bar for strange has been raised pretty high, so this book had a lot to live up to. Initially, I was surprised to find myself utterly engrossed by something that is the complete opposite of virtually everything in my library. This curious tale of two elderly sisters in an old Victorian house with nothing in common but a forty-year rift and their family's interest in moths was a much more
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(15 people liked it)
Mar 02, 2008
Sarah
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B&N First Look Advanced Reading Copy.
At first, it was difficult for me to get into this book. Ginny is, as her father was before her, a lepidopterology expert - an expert on moths. But as I continued to read it became clear that there was much more to this story than the study of insects. Told from Ginny's point of view, we remember the past events which bound Ginny and her sister Vivi together and led to their fifty year estrangement, while we also follow the events of the present w More...
At first, it was difficult for me to get into this book. Ginny is, as her father was before her, a lepidopterology expert - an expert on moths. But as I continued to read it became clear that there was much more to this story than the study of insects. Told from Ginny's point of view, we remember the past events which bound Ginny and her sister Vivi together and led to their fifty year estrangement, while we also follow the events of the present w More...
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(7 people liked it)
Sep 13, 2009
karen
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so while "the sister is powered by the same sort of confidently rendered literary suspense that propelled donna tartts the secret history onto bestseller lists (nyt)" is not quite the same thing as "books claiming to be just like secret history", it stays on the shelf. because no one can stop me. and the author photo shows the same kind of serious angular beauty as donna tartt, so- similarity. this book is full of things i like - the big crumbling mansion of the traditional g
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4 comments
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(21 people liked it)
Oct 10, 2011
_The Sister_ by Poppy Adams (2008)
Added April 26, 2009.
My Goodreads friend, Jeff, recommended this book to me because I enjoyed Diane Setterfield's _The Thirteenth Tale_ so much.
Jeff wrote: "Joy, if you liked The Thirteenth Tale, you'd also probably really like Poppy Adams' The Sister. It's superb gothic storytelling, much like the Setterfield."
I'm looking forward to reading this book.
9/23/11 - I started reading this book several days ago. T More...
Added April 26, 2009.
My Goodreads friend, Jeff, recommended this book to me because I enjoyed Diane Setterfield's _The Thirteenth Tale_ so much.
Jeff wrote: "Joy, if you liked The Thirteenth Tale, you'd also probably really like Poppy Adams' The Sister. It's superb gothic storytelling, much like the Setterfield."
I'm looking forward to reading this book.
9/23/11 - I started reading this book several days ago. T More...
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(3 people liked it)
Nov 10, 2008
Colleen
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This book had the potential to be really good but didn't live up to those expectations. It wasn't bad and I don't consider it a waste of time but it was just "eh". The characters were not as developed as they could have been and many questions were left unanswered, for example why Vivien finally came back after 47 years. In my opinion, that is a key point to the novel and we never find out. (For those who have already read it, without giving anything away to those who haven't -- wh
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(4 people liked it)
Aug 02, 2008
NanTze
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Apr 16, 2009
Robin
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Interesting (in the odd kind of way) book. It is a story of two sisters who have been estranged for the last 47 years. Out of the blue Vivian just shows up.....to the isolated mansion that Virginia has been living like a hermit in all of her life. The two sisters are in their 70's and one thing becomes apparent to me right away...but isn't really addressed...and probably wouldn't have even been considered when Virginia was a child. Virginia has Asperger's Syndrome. This is manifested in many
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Aug 07, 2008
Jessica
rated it:
Yawn.
I'm not interested in the anatomy of moths, which seemed to be a huge focus of the book. I got halfway through and decided that there are much more interesting gothic novels out there, and I shouldn't be wasting my time on one that takes so long to develop.
Perhaps I'm being a bit harsh, and would reconsider picking this up again if someone convinced me it gets better. Until then, it's back at the library.
I'm not interested in the anatomy of moths, which seemed to be a huge focus of the book. I got halfway through and decided that there are much more interesting gothic novels out there, and I shouldn't be wasting my time on one that takes so long to develop.
Perhaps I'm being a bit harsh, and would reconsider picking this up again if someone convinced me it gets better. Until then, it's back at the library.
Jun 26, 2008
J-me
rated it:
Wow I have never read a more strange, bizarre and disappointing book. I may have to read it again just to be sure it is as bad as I think it was.
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(3 people liked it)
Jun 25, 2009
Brian
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A fascinating debut novel from an author with enormous promise, The Behaviour Of Moths is the neo-gothic story of a dysfunctional family told from the viewpoint of the obsessional, deluded and probably autistic elder daughter, Virginia. Set in a huge, crumbling mansion in Dorset, the narrative focuses on the return of Virginia's younger sister, Vivien and its effect on Virginia's hermetically-sealed senility.
Virginia's youth was spent working alongside her lepidopterist father, Cliv More...
Virginia's youth was spent working alongside her lepidopterist father, Cliv More...
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(4 people liked it)
Mar 02, 2009
Stephanie
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THIS debut novel by English author Poppy Adams has almost all the elements of a campy horror novel. Crumbling mansion in the English countryside -- check. Socially-awkward spinster living alone -- check. Insects -- check.
The only thing it lacks is a sense of horror. Instead, the author presents a slow-burn psychological drama which her publicists have been able to market well -- publishing rights have been sold to the US, Spain, France, Italy, Holland, Germany and Russia.
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The only thing it lacks is a sense of horror. Instead, the author presents a slow-burn psychological drama which her publicists have been able to market well -- publishing rights have been sold to the US, Spain, France, Italy, Holland, Germany and Russia.
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(1 person liked it)
Oct 13, 2008
Amory
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Feb 28, 2008
A.
rated it:
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 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 beggin More...
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 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 beggin More...
Mar 17, 2009
Cheryl
rated it:
This started off so very well that I thought I was in for a treat. But about midway through it started to get very bogged down in desciptions of moths and other things related to lepidoptera, which slowed the plot down to a crawl. I found myself skimming over large numbers of pages (going back periodically to see if I'd missed anything of real importance -- I hadn't) and by the time I got to the end I no longer cared what happened to any of the characters or why. When a reader of novels, I'm a c
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(1 person liked it)
Jan 29, 2012
Blair
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A strange, disquieting read, this book left me feeling both haunted and frustrated. It's skillfully written and the characterisation is excellent, but I couldn't help feeling the story came to an end long before it should have done, leaving too many important questions unanswered. Once it became apparent that Ginny was the quintessential unreliable narrator, I expected a resolution that would reveal the full truth; instead, the reader is left to wonder whether, for example, Ginny's success and f
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Jul 29, 2008
Jeanne
rated it:
I finished this book and immediately asked myself, "What happened?" I have no idea!
Quickly: this is the story of two sisters, Ginny and Vivi. Both grew up in a crazy, old mansion with some crazy parents. Maud was their alcoholic mother, and Clive was their moth-obsessed father. A creepy accident involving Vivi falling from the bell tower (as a child) always looms in the background.
Ginny has always lived in the family home, and Vivi has just returned, as a r More...
Quickly: this is the story of two sisters, Ginny and Vivi. Both grew up in a crazy, old mansion with some crazy parents. Maud was their alcoholic mother, and Clive was their moth-obsessed father. A creepy accident involving Vivi falling from the bell tower (as a child) always looms in the background.
Ginny has always lived in the family home, and Vivi has just returned, as a r More...
Apr 26, 2010
Lisa
rated it:
Really a 3.5, but as I don't have that option, a 3...
At first glance this is the tale of two estranged sisters, now in their seventies, as they are reunited when Vivien suddenly decides to return to the home they grew up in, a crumbling old Gothic mansion that houses a huge collection of moths thanks to the 'family expertise'. As narrated by Ginny who is now something of a recluse and quite probably autistic, it soon becomes apparent however that something is amiss, as memories the t More...
At first glance this is the tale of two estranged sisters, now in their seventies, as they are reunited when Vivien suddenly decides to return to the home they grew up in, a crumbling old Gothic mansion that houses a huge collection of moths thanks to the 'family expertise'. As narrated by Ginny who is now something of a recluse and quite probably autistic, it soon becomes apparent however that something is amiss, as memories the t More...
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Jul 25, 2009
Anne
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This is a book that I've been looking forward to for a long time and I finished it earlier today. I was completely mesmirised by the writing and enjoyed Ginny's narrative, her pespective of her life and her family members. I would agree that there is a touch of the 'Whatever Happened to Baby Jane' about the story, but as that is one of my all time favourite films, this only added to my pleasure.
This is a cleverly written debut novel which explores a distant relationship between the More...
This is a cleverly written debut novel which explores a distant relationship between the More...
Jan 18, 2009
Jen
rated it:
Good ending + bad, slow beginning + whoa, that's a lotta moths = The Sister
One good quotation:
"Is it really necessary to record your life in order to make it worthwhile or commendable? Is it worthless to die without reference? Surely those testimonials last another generation or two, and even then they don't offer much meaning. We all know we're a mere fleck in the tremendous universal cycle of energy, but no one can abide the thought of their life, lived so intensively a More...
One good quotation:
"Is it really necessary to record your life in order to make it worthwhile or commendable? Is it worthless to die without reference? Surely those testimonials last another generation or two, and even then they don't offer much meaning. We all know we're a mere fleck in the tremendous universal cycle of energy, but no one can abide the thought of their life, lived so intensively a More...
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Aug 02, 2011
The title reminded me of "The Collector" by John Fowles, and this too is a first novel about somebody who is mentally abnormal.
There is a lot of information about moths in the book, and it is obvious the author has done lots of research, but I was annoyed by lapses. It is hardly likely that an entomologist would refer to spiders or scorpions as insects.
That happens early on, and gradually I started to enjoy the book a lot and worry less about how accurate it was. It is obvious that V More...
There is a lot of information about moths in the book, and it is obvious the author has done lots of research, but I was annoyed by lapses. It is hardly likely that an entomologist would refer to spiders or scorpions as insects.
That happens early on, and gradually I started to enjoy the book a lot and worry less about how accurate it was. It is obvious that V More...
Sep 18, 2011
Laura
rated it:
Ginny and her younger sister Vivien haven't seen each other for decades, Ginny doesn't know why - from the beginning it's a mystery genre. From Ginny's perspective, the novel opens on the sister's reunion and takes us back to their childhood in flashes of little stories. In between tales of the past, Ginny questions Vivien's actions in the present. Why did she come here now? What does she want?
Early on, Ginny's tone refers to her opinionated rather than factual narration, it is implie More...
Early on, Ginny's tone refers to her opinionated rather than factual narration, it is implie More...
Jul 23, 2011
Cecilia
rated it:
This book was a pleasant surprise, I must say. The seclusion of the two sisters in a decaying house is always good for a gothic-esque story and the moths in the attic are Bronte-ish. A secluded woman, obsessed with moths. Was it because she was thwarted from becoming a butterfly? Was she the moth that was eaten from the inside out by maggots? The moth info is quite extensive which would lead one to believe that there is something profoundly symbolic here. I would probably have to read it a
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Jun 02, 2011
Lori L
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The Sister by Poppy Adams opens with seventy year old Virginia (Ginny), a recluse, waiting for her sister Vivien (Vivi) to return to Bulburrow Court, the decaying family mansion, after being away for nearly fifty years. The novel focuses on the four day period of time when Vivi returns home. Ginny is the narrator and as she reflects about her life a picture of her childhood begins to emerge. Their mother, Maud, is gregarious and often answers for Ginny. Their father, Clive, was a famous lepidopt
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Apr 15, 2011
Yvann
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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 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 maintai
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Mar 13, 2011
Heidi
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Sep 27, 2010
Teresa
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Here are a few common literary themes I m a sucker for: family secrets, faulty memory, different perspectives on single events, isolated eccentrics, and possibly unreliable narrators. And Poppy Adams s The Sister, originally published in the UK with the title The Behaviour of Moths, includes all of these themes. Ginny, the narrator, has lived alone for years in a secluded mansion, working on her moth research. Now in her 70s, she has her habits and routines and seems comfortable with her life
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Dec 10, 2009
Eileen
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