They Were Sisters by Dorothy Whipple was first published in 1943, but my copy dates from 1946 and was published by John Murray. In recent years it has been reprinted by Persephone Books, their blurb is very succinct: Three sisters marry very different men and the choices they make determine whether they will flourish, be tamed or be repressed.

I really enjoyed this one the setting is just after the First World War, up until around 20 years after that.  I was thinking that it would make a great TV series/family saga, but apparently the book was made into a film starring Phyllis Calvert and James Mason in 1945,  I’m presuming that James Mason played the cruel and domineering husband of Charlotte.

The three sisters are very different characters. Lucy is married to William and they are childless, William her husband is very laid back and calm and they have a happy marriage.

Vera is the supposed beauty of the family, but it seems to have made her completely self-centred and promiscuous. Her husband is deeply unhappy, not that she would care.

Charlotte marries the ‘life and soul of the party’ type, but behind his own closed doors he’s a monster with towering rages for no reason. Charlotte has no standing in her own home and even her children  (and servants) have no respect for her, she’s entirely miserable.

I like to think that this book might have saved some impulsive or immature women from making a huge mistake with their choice of spouse, but I have a couple of friends in my background who married men because they were always ‘exciting’ – a disaster waiting not very long to happen! Anyway this was a great read.