book review : the complete book of sisters by luisa dillner

By Amee Warden

Having two sisters and a brother, the idea of reading someone else’s take on what being a sister is was intriguing, especially since I often struggle to define it myself. Upon reading The Complete Book of Sisters, it became immediately obvious that I wasn’t about to get one concrete definition on just what exactly being a sister means.

Ask 100 different girls what sisterhood means to them and you’re more than guaranteed to receive 100 different answers.
A doctor, a member of the British Medical Journal Publishing Group and a contributor to the Guardian, Observer and other publications, Luisa Dillner delivers the third book in her ‘Complete Book of’ series in a refreshing fashion.

Drawing on her own experiences as a sister in the prologue, Dillner provides us with a succinct insight into her relationship with her brother, Larry, who in turn offers his own thoughts on what Luisa’s kinship means to him.

It’s a cute and effective way to begin the book, as any sister, and even brother could more than likely relate to many of the feelings the two have for the other.

Simple enough to follow, the book is divided into 15 chapters that vary in length, with the chapter on sisterly rivalry unsurprisingly being one of the longest. The main body of the book investigates sisters and brothers from the past and present and describes the different dynamics of their relationships.

From Jane Austen and her sister Cassandra, the Bronte sisters; Anne, Charlotte, Emily and their brother Branwell, Napoleon Bonaparte and his sister, Pauline, to the Williams’ sisters and Madonna and her brother, Christopher, Dillner explores a wide range of sibling relationships.

While it is a light-hearted novel and quite amusing in some parts, Dillner does not shy away from providing us with some of the darker aspects of sisterhood. Two of the Papin sisters are famous throughout France for their murderous rampage on a family they were maids for in the 1930s, and the eerie control that Jennifer Gibbons exerted over her sister June makes for a creepy read.

Peppered throughout the book in between chapters are the short memoirs of those that Dillner has interviewed, including Ann Robinson and John Holborow. Along with poetry by Lewis Carroll, short prose from Guy De Maupassant and a quaint little ‘How to be a good sister’ chapter, Dillner doesn’t neglect to mention the non-family aspects of sisterhood. Friends can count to some as sisters, too.

Don’t read this if you’re looking for a solid answer on what being a sister means- you’re not going to find it. It’s more than likely that you’ll find that though your relationship is completely different to someone else’s, it’s still completely normal. Filled with several parts that you’ll relate to and more than likely have experienced at some point with your own kin, The Complete Book of Sisters is a thoroughly enjoyable read.