Victorian Sisters

Traces the lives of the four Macdonald sisters, and examines their contributions to the successes of their influential husbands

Taylor, British author of The Edwardian Lady, in this book attempts a multiple biography, hampered by the skimpy material on her subjects. They were the Macdonald sisters, who rose from "humble origins" during the repressive 19th century to become the wives of historic personages. Eldest of the four girls born in the mid-1800s, Alice was a witty intellectual who made a home in India for her husband John Lockwood Kipling and their son Rudyard, who inherited her literary gifts and Celtic mysticism. Less fortunate Georgianalittle "Georgie"overcame the suffering caused by her wimpy, faithless spouse, pre-Raphaelite painter Edward Burne-Jones and quietly advanced his career, while remaining her family's mainstay as well. Taylor has less to record about the third and fourth daughters: Agnes, wife of Sir Edward Poynter, moved in glittering society but was unhappily married; and Louisa, whose marriage to industrialist Alfred Baldwin also was unsatisfactory, evolved into a successful writer and her son Stanley became prime minister. Pictures not seen by PW. BOMC and QPBC alternates.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Daughters of a Methodist preacher, the four Macdonald sisters exerted a remarkable influence on English art, literature, and politics through their husbands and sons. Three of these strong-willed women married successful artists: Georgiana, the Pre-Raphaelite Edward Burne-Jones; Agnes, the society painter Edward Poynter, and Alice, sculptor Lockwood Kipling. Alice's marriage caused her to live for 30 years in British India, profoundly influencing her son Rudyard. Louisa became the mother of Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin. Taylor's readable and sometimes poignant account traces the effect of Victorian values on their lives, including the depression and hypochondria arising from devotion to their husband's careers at the expense of their own interests. For general collections. BOMC and Quality Paperback Book Club alternates..Susan Thach Dean, Chicago P.L.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.