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Enid est la plus jeune des cinq sœurs Verdelaine. Celle que personne ne croit quand elle dit avoir entendu un fantôme hurler dans le parc, celle qui aime manger du cake aux noix et dormir avec les chats Ingrid et Roberto, celle qui recherche Swift, sa chauve-souris disparue dans la tempête.
Au milieu de cette fratrie, Enid sait très bien où se trouve la place la plus confortable : dedans quand il faut, dehors quand ça l’arrange !

146 pages, Hardcover

Published January 5, 2011

7 people are currently reading
189 people want to read

About the author

Cati Baur

31 books22 followers
Je suis née à Genève à l'automne 1973.

Après des études d’arts plastiques et une première vie de libraire, je deviens assistante d’édition et me fais connaître en animant un blog BD alors que ce média est à peine émergent.

En 2007, je publie ma première bande dessinée aux éditions Delcourt, avant de me tourner plus particulièrement vers la jeunesse avec la série « Quatre Soeurs » adaptée des romans de Malika Ferdjoukh, désormais publiée chez Rue de Sèvres, puis d'illustrer des albums et des couvertures avec divers éditeurs, dont L'école des Loisirs, Magnard, Play-Bac, Casterman...

Aujourd’hui, je vis à Montpellier et partage mon temps entre l'illustration et la bande dessinée.

I am a french illustrator and comic book author, born in Geneva in 1973.

After studying arts at La Sorbonne university, I have been successively bookseller and publisher’s assistant in Paris, before starting drawing comic books.
Then, in partnership with l’Ecole des Loisirs, I illustrated several books including covers.

Since 2009, I have been working on the four volumes of a graphic novel: « Four Sisters », adaptation from a novel by french writer Malika Ferdjoukh (published by Rue de Sèvres - l’Ecole des Loisirs).

I now live in the south of France, sharing my time among illustration, cover art, children books and comic books.

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5 stars
227 (35%)
4 stars
255 (39%)
3 stars
130 (20%)
2 stars
28 (4%)
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6 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 66 reviews
Profile Image for Hilary .
2,294 reviews490 followers
August 23, 2023
Reread on holiday, was a comforting read in the rain, in a tent.

I really enjoyed this one, when a read ticks the boxes of so many of my goodreads shelves it usually scores highly and this is no exception.

This graphic novel is set in France. Five sisters of various ages live in a large chateau. They are orphaned, their parents died in a car crash but still appear in the house as ghosts. Unaffected by air temperature they wear whatever takes their fancy (a bit like teenagers)

The sisters have a close relationship as they have no one else, they have squabbles, disagreements and personality clashes but are all there for each other and all have their part to play in family life. A mysterious noise culminates in the solving of a mystery.

I loved the close family relationship in this book, if I had read this as a child I would have longed to live with them. The illustrations are beautiful and I loved the misunderstood cat friends.

Although this is set in France I kept forgetting. I can remember any French food being made, no mention of French culture as far as I can remember, nobody goes to buy croissant or anything else particularly French and they call their parents 'mom and dad'! It would have been good to call them Maman and Papa so we at least had the occasional reminder.

A nice read for a teenager or an adult.
Profile Image for Emily.
1,020 reviews189 followers
January 20, 2020
This is the first in a series of graphic novels about a family of five (series title notwithstanding) orphaned sisters, ages 9-23. It's translated from the French, and is based on a series of YA novels (also French) that haven't been translated into English...The artwork is delightful and atmospheric (the sisters live in a spooky old mansion on a wind-swept cliff top by the sea), but it still feels odd to be reading a story twice removed from its original version. I actually read the second book in the series, about second youngest sister Hortense, first, and I liked that one better, but rounded this one up to four stars anyway. Hortense's story was tighter, and more focused than this one, in which littlest sister Enid's ghost hunting expeditions take a back seat to shallow middle sister Bettina's mean machinations. The second book also has the virtue of not having the girls' parents appearing as ghosts, which I think was an improvement (they come across as 1970s swingers who seem mostly indifferent to their daughters). I'll gladly read the next two when (hopefully!) they are translated into English as well, even though the next one up is Bettina -- what horrible thing will she do next?

In an afterword, the author explains that as a fan of old movies, she showed a lot of them to the illustrator, Cati Baur, to give her an idea of how she imagined some of the characters, including showing her the actress Kay Thompson as a model for the sisters' ghastly Aunt Lucretia. It turned out Cati Baur had been a massive lifelong Eloise fan (especially of Hilary Knight's illustrations), which the author had never heard of, and then was astonished to receive as a gift. This tickled me, because I realized I hadn't been mistaken in thinking I'd seen a portrait of Eloise in this book, half hidden in the shadows of a hallway in one of the panels.
Profile Image for Rod Brown.
7,407 reviews284 followers
February 28, 2019
I was so primed to like this. Five quirky orphaned sisters (I guess the title refers to the fact that they each have four sisters?) live together in a quirky old house under the guardianship of the oldest sister and an absent, quirky old aunt. I was hoping for something akin to the The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy or maybe even something on the darker and heavier side. What I got was a muddle that got mired somewhere in the gap between those two visions.

The girls are sad that their parents are dead. But, hey, the parents are still around as ghosts! But, hey, even though they talk to their daughters constantly, there seems to be no point for them to be in the story.

And the sisters are not so much quirky as annoying or one-dimensional. One's an outright mean girl who drags the story down every time she appears. Another is an adventurer who gets involved in a ghost mystery (not her parents, other ghosts) that goes nowhere important. The rest have nothing much to contribute.

I have only myself to blame for falling into this blah book, as I did not notice until I had finished the fine print on the title page that says that this is an adaptation of the author's French novel. Reading graphic novel adaptations when I have not read the original work rarely turns out well for me, and books like this prove the necessity of the boycott I usually practice. And maybe I need a second rule about French writers?

I like the art at least.
Profile Image for Niki.
580 reviews19 followers
December 4, 2017
good story, did not like the drawings
Profile Image for Hallie.
242 reviews24 followers
January 23, 2019
This is a cute story, with really gorgeous art. It's a little bland for me personally, although I like a lot of the elements (the large family, each character being very distinct; the unanswered question of whether the parents' ghosts are real; the sense of how fully integrated in the village the girls are). I liked Enid quite a bit, and would have liked the whole story more if it had been tightly focused on her search for her animal friends/discovery of the ghost. For an "Enid" volume, we saw way too much of Dove and Bettina's weird Mean Girls hijincks. (I honestly didn't like Dove much more than Bettina did - B was petty and cruel and shouldn't have reacted that way, but blech. Dove *was* weirdly perfect!)

I would probably read the next one once it's been released in English (although honestly I wouldn't say no to a French version) but mostly because it's Hortense - she's likely the one I'm going to relate to the most, and I feel like we don't see much of her in this first volume.
Profile Image for Dakota Morgan.
3,421 reviews53 followers
April 9, 2019
"Cute!" pretty much sums up Four Sisters. Enid is the title character here, although her adventure is pretty minor: a ghost hunt! Bettina gets the most screen time as the awful mean girl sister. Charlie, the wise oldest sister, provides a neat voice of reason, while the other two, whose names I have forgotten, make excellent wallflowers.

The art is pleasant, the writing is pleasant, the setting is pleasant. It's all a bit tame, but...pleasant. Maybe "Pleasant!" is how I should have summed it up. My main complaint is that the word bubbles often flow together, making it hard to tell who's speaking. That said, the content of the word bubbles rarely matters - the art does the heavy lifting when it comes to emotion and action. I'd probably follow along for another volume of pleasant cuteness.
Profile Image for Rabbit.
377 reviews14 followers
November 12, 2020
Reread in 2020-still 5⭐️

My favourite graphic novel of 2018! ❤️
I felt transported back to childhood while reading this sweet but authentic story about 5 sisters in the vein of Little Women. It’s a perfect autumn read with great watercolour spreads set at a French seaside manor house in fall & climaxing during Halloween night, robust character development, and fun plot twists.
6 months until volume two is almost too long to bear, but I certainly will because it centers around my favorite sister, Hortense.
Profile Image for Mdg2810.
336 reviews20 followers
August 21, 2019
Les illustrations sont intéressantes. Elles sont belles mais surtout très porteuses d'émotions. Les quatre sœurs m'ont direct fait penser aux Quatre filles du Dr March mais au final elles sont cinq 😂
Je lirai la suite même si je ne le recommanderai pas pour un très jeune public (certaines images sont un peu violentes pour les plus jeunes).
Profile Image for Ritika.
213 reviews45 followers
July 31, 2020
There are five sisters, so I wonder who will be getting the short shrift.

This is possibly targetted to the pre-teen age group (what are they called? younger young adults?). This was sweet and light and hopefully finds its ideal audience.
Profile Image for Naïma.
307 reviews
June 23, 2017
Sous le charme de l'histoire et du dessin. Réaliste et en même temps tout mignon :-)
Profile Image for CharlesJoli.
580 reviews57 followers
April 25, 2021
Tant de feels. Quatre Sœurs, c'est une série qui me suit depuis l'enfance. J'ai peu de souvenirs des romans, je me rappelle surtout de l'avoir lu dans un magazine jeunesse, sous forme de feuilleton dessiné. Alors, forcément, l'adaptation en BD me parle énormément.

Ce que j'ai aimé particulièrement dans ce premier tome, c'est qu'il ne s'y passe rien d'exceptionnel. On suit le quotidien des sœurs et de leur entourage, leurs joies, leurs peines, et leurs petites aventures. Rien d'exceptionnel donc, mais quelque chose de profondément sincère, des scènes de vie dans lesquelles on peut se reconnaître, des éclats de rire et des moments d'émotion. Enid, qui est au centre de ce premier tome, est la plus jeune et la casse-cou de service. Elle est drôle et touchante, elle vit une enfance trépidante un peu à l'écart de l'agitation émotionnelle de ses grandes sœurs. Elle n'est pas ma préférée (ça c'est Charlie, la seule à ne pas avoir de tome pour elle), mais j'ai beaucoup aimé la suivre.

Cati Baur était probablement la meilleure illustratrice possible pour donner vie aux quatre (enfin cinq) sœurs, et je suis heureuse qu'elle ait eu l'idée de le faire. Ses dessins construisent une ambiance parfaite et entière, dans laquelle on ne peut que plonger. J'avais vraiment l'impression d'y être, surtout lors des scènes qui réunissent tout ce petit monde dans la grande cuisine de la Vill'Hervé. Ce n'est pas de la grande évasion, mais le sentiment d'être chez soi tout en étant ailleurs. Tellement apaisant. Les dessins sont beaux, vivants, dans une palette de couleurs douces mais assumées qui participe beaucoup à l'ambiance. Les planches sont simples mais dynamiques, elles rendent parfaitement l'atmosphère unique de cette famille soudée qui semble vivre souvent à cent à l'heure. Une vraie parenthèse de bonheur.
Profile Image for Patricia.
45 reviews5 followers
July 8, 2013
Première mise au point : je n'avais jamais lu le roman Quatre Soeurs de Malika Ferdjoukh (ce dont je suis en train de remédier à l'instant). Donc je ne connaissais pas les personnages, ni l'histoire, je ne m'étais pas faite une image mentale de ces cinq soeurs.

J'ai adoré la bande dessinée (tout comme j'adore le roman que je suis en train de lire).

Tout d'abord parlons du travail de la mise en bande dessinée effectuée par Cati Baur (illustratrice, éditrice et libraire). Car c'est là même que se trouve la raison pour laquelle j'ai choisi ce livre à la bibliothèque. Les dessins. Les personnages sont tellement bien dessinés, les cinq filles (six avec Colombe) sont superbes et leur personnalité transperce l'image. Les couleurs sont finement agencées et par la couverture, c'est comme un festin de beauté à chaque page.

J'aimerais maintenant évoquer le récit. J'ai retrouvé un peu de Jane Austen, de la Comtesse de Ségur, des soeurs Brontë...

Ces cinq orphelines doivent se débrouiller seules dans un environnement plutôt clos et dans une vieux manoir rempli de fantômes. Il y a un peu d'aventure, un peu d'amour, un peu de quête identitaire... un peu de tout, et juste bien dosé...

Un point en plus pour le personnage de Colombe, car tout comme elles j'en suis tombé sous le charme!

À lire absolument!
Profile Image for Asil_df.
107 reviews1 follower
May 12, 2021
Quel beau roman graphique !
J'avais très envie de découvrir le roman de Malika Ferdjoukh, mais le découvrir ainsi avec les illustrations de Cati Baur, c'est encore mieux !

Les soeurs Verdelaine sont renversantes de joie de vivre et de passion. Leur château près des falaises, leurs fantômes de parents, leurs chats, leurs chamailleries, .. Tout est fait pour s'amuser

J'ai beaucoup aimé ce premier tome centré sur la plus jeune des soeurs, Enid, qui a neuf ans et demi et qui vit de filles aventures pour sauver son écureuil et sa chauve-souris. Ce tome est à l'image de la saison qu'il incarne,l'automne : frissonnant de fantôme, de citrouilles et de cake à la noix !

Hâte de lire tome 2 sur la saison hivernale et sur Hortense, la sœur qui aime lire et écrire 😁
Profile Image for Claire Duthil.
53 reviews
March 3, 2020
Les quatres sœurs... Une série de livre qui m'a accompagné et aidé à grandir. Enid, Hortense, Bettina, Geneviève et Charlie vivent seules depuis que leurs parents sont decedés dans un accident de voiture. Cinq sœurs, cinq personnalités géniales et différentes dont on ne peut qu'à dorer suivre les aventures.
Alors quel plaisir pour moi de les retrouver en bd sous les traits de Cati Baur. Une vraie réussite. J'adore re-découvrir la Vill'Hervé, les caprices de la chaudières, les fantômes des parents, les goûters et les chamailleries,bref cet univers loufoque et génial ! Hâte de lire les autres tomes !
Profile Image for Dustyloup.
1,324 reviews9 followers
July 13, 2020
Never heard of this story before. It's like a modern-day little women! Really interesting commenting of personalities.
I'm curious to see how Bettina develops because she's really a b- I don't particularly care for the way she's drawn, she looks waaaay older than 14, but then again isn't that the way of most 14 year old girls, the jealousy and dressing older than she is.
Love the loving ghost parents, the mystery of the walking sound, the question of how to raise yourself without your parents or how to be raised by your sisters.
The color is lovely but I actually prefer the black and white at at the back!
Profile Image for Michael.
Author 1 book24 followers
August 9, 2018
Lovely art depicting deep characters in a romantic setting. But while the characters are varied and complicated, I'm not actually all that interested in most of them. Or maybe it's the absence of a central plot that I'm reacting negatively to. I wonder if subsequent volumes begin to develop a stronger story with character arcs. I'm just not decided on whether I want to find out enough to continue the series.
Profile Image for Trilllian.
112 reviews2 followers
January 6, 2011
J'ai beaucoup aimé, la BD est très fidèle au roman et à son ton et atmosphère; j'ai beaucoup aimé aussi les dessins de Cati Baur en particulier les dessins des décors, la maison, chacune des pièces, les meubles, c'est exactement comme ça que j'imaginais l'intérieur de la maison et les décors extérieurs;
Profile Image for tomasawyer.
665 reviews6 followers
August 17, 2020
C'était doux et mignon à regarder, amusant à lire. Cela dit, j'aurais aimé que le premier tome se concentre vraiment sur les aventures d'Enid dans le jardin, beaucoup moins sur les amourettes de Bettina et qu'on approfondisse chacune des sœurs, histoire de faire connaissance avec les orphelines. (J'ai pas compris la pertinence de la présence fantomatique des parents dans la maison)
38 reviews3 followers
June 11, 2013
3.5
J'aime plus que le roman. Les dessins y sont pour beaucoup: ils sont magnifiques. Quant à l'histoire, l'essentiel est bien rendu. Une belle histoire de famille, à boire avec un café et des croissants, lorsqu'il vente fort dehors.
Profile Image for Morgane.
176 reviews
April 26, 2017
Des héroïnes tellement mignonnes ! Elles sont tellement comme tout le monde et pourtant tellement unique que même si c'est sous forme de bd, ça m'a dérouté au début.
En tout cas j'attend la suite avec uimpatience
Profile Image for Sylvester (Taking a break in 2023).
2,041 reviews87 followers
February 9, 2020
A big old house, sisters, different personalities and adventures - a fun book, I thought. Sister books have a certain appeal, now that Inthink about it, or siblings. I'll definitely be reading more of this series if I get the chance.
Profile Image for M. .
213 reviews
October 16, 2020
J'ai adoré le dessin mais j'aurai aimé pour accompagner cela, une histoire plus riche.
Profile Image for Tina.
252 reviews12 followers
August 4, 2025
⭐⭐ 2/5

“Started with high hopes, ended up side-eyeing every panel.”

I picked up Enid while riding a sweet little comic/graphic novel high—fresh off the emotional, wholesome glow of the Heartstopper series. I thought I was in for another warm, quirky journey. Instead… whew. This one just didn’t land for me.

Let’s start with the good:
There’s no denying this book had potential. The art style had its own charm, and the overall concept—a big, blended family with layered dynamics and emotional undercurrents—sounded like something I’d totally enjoy. The groundwork was there. But the execution? Way too messy to follow.

🌀 What Didn’t Work

The plot was chaotic. Like, seriously all over the place. There were so many characters introduced at once, and not enough grounding to help you truly understand who’s who or why you should care. The pacing felt off—some scenes rushed by in a blink, while others dragged without contributing much. I found myself flipping back pages thinking, “Wait, did I miss something?” more times than I’d like to admit.

As a first entry in a series that clearly wants to dive into each sister’s story, Enid needed to do a better job setting the emotional tone. Instead, it threw everything into the pot without enough simmer time. What could’ve been touching or impactful came off feeling disjointed and a little flat.

🤷🏽‍♀️ The Maybe Later Factor

Even though this one didn’t work for me, I’m still mildly curious about the rest of the sisters. The family dynamics clearly have room to grow, and I could see later volumes digging deeper into the characters and their personal arcs. But am I rushing to continue the series? Not really. Maybe someday. Big maybe.

It’s hard to say if I would’ve felt differently about this book had I picked it up before getting swept up in the magic of Heartstopper, but reading it immediately after such a strong emotional series definitely made the flaws stand out more. Compared to that, Enid just didn’t have the same pull, heart, or clarity.



✍🏽 Final Thoughts

Enid had the bones of a good story but lacked the polish and focus to carry it through. It’s not a total loss—there are glimmers of promise—but for me, it was too jumbled to fully connect with. Might come back to it one day… or I might not. Some books just aren’t meant to be binged after a high like Heartstopper.
Profile Image for Manika.
416 reviews
August 20, 2016
Je passe de 4 à 3.5 parce que je préfère vraiment les couleurs du T2.
ah les Quatre sœurs... cette adaptation graphique du T1 dans la série Quatre sœurs de Malika Ferdjoukh a été une agréable surprise. bien que je savais que j'allais au moins aimer l'histoire, je ne pensais pas tomber sous le charme du style graphique de cati baur.
j'ai adoré redécouvrir les sœurs Verdelaine dans tous ces dessins, retrouver l'atmosphère, leurs aventures. Malika Ferdjoukh est vraiment une belle découverte pour moi cette année et je suis bien heureuse d'avoir découverte une nouvelle auteure de BD grâce à elle.
parce que je dois l'avouer, si je n'avait pas lu le roman au préalable je n'aurai pas du tout penser à lire une des BD de Cati Baur parce que son style graphique n'est pas du tout ce qui m'attire habituellement.
néanmoins, j'ai été séduite par ses dessins et finalement, je trouve que son style convient bien à l'univers de Malika Ferdjouhk pour les sœurs Verdelaine.
j'ai hâte de poursuivre la lecture avec l'adaptation du T2.
Profile Image for Blue.
1,186 reviews55 followers
January 12, 2021
This volume is from Enid's perspective and Enid is supposed to be 9, so reads a bit like middle grade. There isn't a lot that's happening, more a slice of life story. The sisters seemed very well defined in boxes arranged by needs: one to take care of the business end of things, one to be a maid, one who only cares about looks and boys, one to be the deep thinker, and Enid, the baby of the family. So there's a nice variety, but seemed too convenient overall. Also, the parents are dead, but they're still there as ghosts, there is no real life conflict, it seems. Yes, everyone has to do their part, but no real life struggle (yet). The art is beautiful with lush colors. Recommended for those who like cats, mysterious stairwells, and packages.
Profile Image for Anita Sosinka.
46 reviews5 followers
October 18, 2014
Je suis tellement contente qu'il y a encore trois livres à lire dans cette serie de BD. J'aime bien l'histoire de cinque soerus orphelines qui habitent une vieille maison pleine de charme et sécrets. Âgées de 23, 16, 14, 11 et 9 ans elles vivent toutes seules. Ça veut dire sans compter les fantômes de leurs parents qui toujours prennent soins d'eux.
Il y a aussi un fidèle ami Basil qui, comme tout le monde le sait, finira par épouser Charlie, la soeur plus âgée. Et puis la vieille tante Lucrèce, cotutrice légale de la maisonnée qui se limite à un (maigre) chèque le 2 du mois, la visite le 36 et un coup de fil 1 fois par moin.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 66 reviews

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