The Half-Sisters

By Geraldine Endsor Jewsbury,

Book cover of The Half-Sisters

Book description

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.

This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked The Half-Sisters as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Published in 1848, The Half Sisters is the story of two sisters, Alice and Bianca, who grow up without knowing of the other’s existence.

Alice is middle-class, legitimate, and respectable, and goes on to have the life Victorian women were meant to have – namely, marriage. She is also bored and unhappy. Meanwhile, her sister Bianca, who is working-class, illegitimate, and definitively not respectable, chooses a different path.

Keen to make a career for herself, she becomes an actress, and throughout the novel passionately defends women’s right to work. The novel is engaging and accessible, though often forgotten now, and…

From Katie's list on surprisingly feminist Victorian.

Want books like The Half-Sisters?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like The Half-Sisters.

Browse books like The Half-Sisters

Book cover of Hester
Book cover of Dombey and Son
Book cover of Jill

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,187

readers submitted
so far, will you?

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in feminism, Victorian, and the working class?

Feminism 362 books
Victorian 163 books
The Working Class 109 books