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Sororicidal
Sororicidal is a gothic-punk portrait of sisterhood as both devotion and destruction, where tenderness and violence are entwined at the root.
The bond between Mary and Margot is undeniable, but so too is the damage it inflicts. Intimacy curdles into enmity, tenderness slips into cruelty, and love becomes indistinguishable from hate.
As the sisters move from girlhood to adulthood, their lives diverge, but they remain tightly bound. Mary pursues her ambitions as an artist, swept into bohemian circles of love affairs and illicit freedoms overseas, while Margot moves toward the conventional securities of marriage and motherhood. Their relationship is tested repeatedly - by betrayals, by lovers, by the arrival of a child, by the relentless shadow of war. Yet neither escapes the gravitational pull of the other.
At once intimate and expansive, Sororicidal traces how two sisters remain inextricably linked across a lifetime - as mirrors, rivals and executioners of each other's desires. It is a novel about the entanglements of family, the burden of expectation, the thin, volatile line between care and ruin, and how love can shape, shatter and ultimately consume.
The bond between Mary and Margot is undeniable, but so too is the damage it inflicts. Intimacy curdles into enmity, tenderness slips into cruelty, and love becomes indistinguishable from hate.
As the sisters move from girlhood to adulthood, their lives diverge, but they remain tightly bound. Mary pursues her ambitions as an artist, swept into bohemian circles of love affairs and illicit freedoms overseas, while Margot moves toward the conventional securities of marriage and motherhood. Their relationship is tested repeatedly - by betrayals, by lovers, by the arrival of a child, by the relentless shadow of war. Yet neither escapes the gravitational pull of the other.
At once intimate and expansive, Sororicidal traces how two sisters remain inextricably linked across a lifetime - as mirrors, rivals and executioners of each other's desires. It is a novel about the entanglements of family, the burden of expectation, the thin, volatile line between care and ruin, and how love can shape, shatter and ultimately consume.
335 pages, Paperback
Published March 31, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
April 8, 2026
For a full spoiler version of this review, please check out my blog, spoiledbooks.blogspot.com
2 ⭐
This one had my attention immediately—a dark, psychological story about two sisters locked in a lifelong rivalry? Say less. As an only child raising two daughters with very different personalities, I’m always fascinated by sibling dynamics, and Sororicidal definitely leans into the unsettling side of that bond.
The premise is strong: Mary and Margot grow up in a wealthy household, but behind closed doors their relationship is full of quiet cruelty, manipulation, and emotional power plays that follow them into adulthood.
Unfortunately… I just never connected. 😬 The writing felt distant, like I was observing instead of feeling. I kept waiting for something to really land—and it never quite did.
Intriguing idea, but not a memorable read for me.
2 ⭐
This one had my attention immediately—a dark, psychological story about two sisters locked in a lifelong rivalry? Say less. As an only child raising two daughters with very different personalities, I’m always fascinated by sibling dynamics, and Sororicidal definitely leans into the unsettling side of that bond.
The premise is strong: Mary and Margot grow up in a wealthy household, but behind closed doors their relationship is full of quiet cruelty, manipulation, and emotional power plays that follow them into adulthood.
Unfortunately… I just never connected. 😬 The writing felt distant, like I was observing instead of feeling. I kept waiting for something to really land—and it never quite did.
Intriguing idea, but not a memorable read for me.
April 22, 2026
Oh my, Edwina Preston knows how to represent malice!
This story of two sisters, trying to outdo each other in coercive control since childhood, is absolutely gripping.
Mary, returning home after a painting residency in France, has told Margot that she is bringing a special present, but (true to form) she has forgotten about this (and everyone except herself) until her last day in Paris. Nothing is suitable... until she sees the fruit bowl:
One might think that this is a gift chosen with love, but... not quite... Mary's ego makes this gift all about herself. She wraps it up very carefully so that ...
But Margot punctures that fantasy:
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2026/04/22/s...
This story of two sisters, trying to outdo each other in coercive control since childhood, is absolutely gripping.
Mary, returning home after a painting residency in France, has told Margot that she is bringing a special present, but (true to form) she has forgotten about this (and everyone except herself) until her last day in Paris. Nothing is suitable... until she sees the fruit bowl:
It is a pint-sized fruit bowl, with a stem, made of golden glass and filled with gem-like coloured-glass fruits; a heap of glossy blue grapes that look like sapphires; emerald-coloured miniature pears; mandarins the size of cumquats; ruby-red tombola-sized apples; topaz bananas in laughing crests. It is perfect. It is full of colour and reflection. A precious jewelled artefact that need not be worn on the body and embarrass an old lady, but might be enjoyed nevertheless. (p.281)
One might think that this is a gift chosen with love, but... not quite... Mary's ego makes this gift all about herself. She wraps it up very carefully so that ...
It is safely mummified and carefully stowed and a happy little glow of satisfaction occurs on my face when I imagine Margot unwrapping it and thinking of me thinking of her when I chose it. (p.281)
But Margot punctures that fantasy:
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2026/04/22/s...
August 20, 2026
I really liked this. The alternating perspectives are quite useful, neither sister really understands themselves clearly, and neither really ever sees the other properly. And yet; tied together, a kind of love, a kind of commitment. I think it’s quite nuanced. I wonder if there’s not some of the artist Grace Cossington-Smith here, who never married (smart lady) and whose sister housekept for her as she painted. Her reputation like so many of the men who arted’s, relied on unpaid domestic work at home (ie, a wife figure). Anyway, this book isn’t really about that, but it is about egos and freedom and intimacy and domesticity and creativity and lots of things. One of the best Australian novels I’ve read in a while, too.
June 14, 2026
2.5 Stars ——
This book encapsulates the sister rivalry perfectly, but other than that, it is quite slow and a bit meh.
The sisters relationship is pretty stereotypical - one following the societal expectations and the other being a ‘trouble maker’ except its set in the early 1900s so the trouble making is not getting married and travelling the world lol. The ‘perfect’ one harbours a lot of resentment towards her sister but it seems to be purely out of frustration regarding the state of her own life, typical.
This wasn’t bad, I just didn’t think it was anything special. I think the same themes and plot lines would have been more interesting if explored in a modern day setting.
This book encapsulates the sister rivalry perfectly, but other than that, it is quite slow and a bit meh.
The sisters relationship is pretty stereotypical - one following the societal expectations and the other being a ‘trouble maker’ except its set in the early 1900s so the trouble making is not getting married and travelling the world lol. The ‘perfect’ one harbours a lot of resentment towards her sister but it seems to be purely out of frustration regarding the state of her own life, typical.
This wasn’t bad, I just didn’t think it was anything special. I think the same themes and plot lines would have been more interesting if explored in a modern day setting.
July 24, 2026
I really enjoyed this!!! I love a great end scene. I feel like this would make a good A24 movie. Thought the life long timeline was really effective. I do feel like I missed out a bit by not having a sister (in life and in the experience of reading this book) - and ngl I could have sororicided Mary at any given moment. Loved that it was clearly Australian without being OTT Aussie.
July 20, 2026
I really loved seeing this tense, complicated, both heartfelt and heartbreaking depiction of sisterhood; the lifelong resentment and simultaneous obsession, the twin love and hate. Really getting this book feels like knowing a secret. Like understanding this mystical knowledge only women who are one half of a pair of sisters could possibly understand. I hope to find more books that explore this.
May 5, 2026
dnf’d at 60%. overwritten at points, and a bit boring 😣
May 10, 2026
Edwina Preston has created two extraordinary characters that I both loved and hated in equal measure. The nervous, insecure Margot who never found life’s joy and always lent in to the morose and the vibrant, confident and selfish Mary. This book really resonated with me. I didn’t want it to end. There’s so much nuance in this story. It’s beautifully written and I want to read it again because I’m sure I read it so fast I missed some of the subtleties.
July 6, 2026
Absolutely loved the themes in this saga about two sisters - ego, narcissism, control and attachment. The first half, focused on the childhood of the sisters was gripping - Prescott gives the story a light gothic touch and I read with a constant sense of foreboding. However, that level of tension is difficult to maintain and somehow, by the end, the sisters' relationship was less threatening and a bit tiring. Hang in there though, for when one sister buys the other 'the perfect gift' - memorable.
July 2, 2026
Meet sisters Mary and Margot, travel with them from childhood to adulthood ... and wonder. They are like magnets: attracting and repelling each other and even when separated by distance they are acutely aware.
Their story unfolds over four parts, starting in 1915 when they are children in Adelaide South Australia, and ending when both are elderly. The story alternates between the sisters: we start with Margot. This is no happy family story the sisters have a very formal, detached relationship with their parents whom they refer to as Mr and Mr Cussens. Margot is artistic, Mary is practical. And, from Margot’s perspective, it is Mary who leads them into the dangerous and often hurtful games they play.
Mary is encouraged to be an artist, Margot feels awkward and untalented. Margot has a disability; Mary seems to glide through life. The girls grow older and Mary competes with Mrs Cussens for the attention of their tennis coach. Margot is attracted to Nessy, the daughter of the family’s cook. And life changes for them both.
The narration shifts ahead at least a decade and from Margot to Mary. Mary has returned to Adelaide after a long period in Europe. She is much surer of herself than Margot and is comfortable with herself. But Margot, who seemed a willing follower in the first part of the story, is distant. Margot has married and has a daughter. Mary finds a bond with her niece, but is it genuine, or another way of undermining Margot? Mary has come home because Mrs Cussens has died.
The third part of the novel takes us to the 1950s. Margot’s husband has died, as has Mr Cussens. Margot’s daughter has married and has children.
I kept reading, wondering about the differences in perception. Is Mary as malign as Margot describes her? Each sister hurts the other in different ways.
The final part of the novel is narrated by Mary. Two elderly sisters living in their now dilapidated family home. And their relationship seems to have shifted from competition to mutual support. Perhaps.
While I disliked both Margot and Mary, I wondered (after I finished the novel) whether I disliked Mary more because the novel starts with Margot’s perspective. I felt uncomfortable too, because I felt the echoes of sibling rivalry, of dysfunctional families, and of secrets.
I finished the novel and am still thinking about sisterhood and family.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
Their story unfolds over four parts, starting in 1915 when they are children in Adelaide South Australia, and ending when both are elderly. The story alternates between the sisters: we start with Margot. This is no happy family story the sisters have a very formal, detached relationship with their parents whom they refer to as Mr and Mr Cussens. Margot is artistic, Mary is practical. And, from Margot’s perspective, it is Mary who leads them into the dangerous and often hurtful games they play.
Mary is encouraged to be an artist, Margot feels awkward and untalented. Margot has a disability; Mary seems to glide through life. The girls grow older and Mary competes with Mrs Cussens for the attention of their tennis coach. Margot is attracted to Nessy, the daughter of the family’s cook. And life changes for them both.
The narration shifts ahead at least a decade and from Margot to Mary. Mary has returned to Adelaide after a long period in Europe. She is much surer of herself than Margot and is comfortable with herself. But Margot, who seemed a willing follower in the first part of the story, is distant. Margot has married and has a daughter. Mary finds a bond with her niece, but is it genuine, or another way of undermining Margot? Mary has come home because Mrs Cussens has died.
The third part of the novel takes us to the 1950s. Margot’s husband has died, as has Mr Cussens. Margot’s daughter has married and has children.
I kept reading, wondering about the differences in perception. Is Mary as malign as Margot describes her? Each sister hurts the other in different ways.
The final part of the novel is narrated by Mary. Two elderly sisters living in their now dilapidated family home. And their relationship seems to have shifted from competition to mutual support. Perhaps.
While I disliked both Margot and Mary, I wondered (after I finished the novel) whether I disliked Mary more because the novel starts with Margot’s perspective. I felt uncomfortable too, because I felt the echoes of sibling rivalry, of dysfunctional families, and of secrets.
I finished the novel and am still thinking about sisterhood and family.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
August 22, 2026
Sororicidal is an intense and emotionally layered portrait of sisterhood, exploring the complicated territory where devotion, rivalry, resentment, and love can exist simultaneously. At the center are Mary and Margot, two sisters whose bond remains powerful even as their lives move in increasingly different directions. Their relationship is not presented as simply loving or destructive; instead, the novel examines how both impulses can exist within the same connection.
Mary's pursuit of an artistic life takes her into bohemian circles, romantic entanglements, and experiences far removed from conventional expectations, while Margot moves toward marriage and motherhood. As their circumstances change, the sisters continue to influence and challenge one another, with betrayals, lovers, children, and the shadow of war placing increasing pressure on their already complicated relationship.
What makes the novel particularly compelling is its willingness to examine family intimacy without simplifying it. Readers interested in historical fiction, literary fiction, complex female relationships, family drama, and psychologically driven stories should find much to appreciate here. Sororicidal ultimately asks difficult questions about how expectations shape identity, how love can become possessive or destructive, and why some family bonds remain impossible to escape.
Mary's pursuit of an artistic life takes her into bohemian circles, romantic entanglements, and experiences far removed from conventional expectations, while Margot moves toward marriage and motherhood. As their circumstances change, the sisters continue to influence and challenge one another, with betrayals, lovers, children, and the shadow of war placing increasing pressure on their already complicated relationship.
What makes the novel particularly compelling is its willingness to examine family intimacy without simplifying it. Readers interested in historical fiction, literary fiction, complex female relationships, family drama, and psychologically driven stories should find much to appreciate here. Sororicidal ultimately asks difficult questions about how expectations shape identity, how love can become possessive or destructive, and why some family bonds remain impossible to escape.
June 17, 2026
Is it love overlaid with jealousy, resentment and malice or are those emotions overlaid by love.
A lifetime together - drifting apart and returning back to their roots at the end of their lives.
A rather strange family - money has eased their paths through the world but world events, illnesses and deaths serve to illustrate the differences between the sisters.
Mary, an artist - selfish but successful. Margot, with her crippled foot and a lifetime of pain. Marriage, a child, widowhood and grandchildren for her.
Are the childhood memories true?
The first paragraph with the words of Freud, are an indication of what is to come in this book.
An interesting read.
A lifetime together - drifting apart and returning back to their roots at the end of their lives.
A rather strange family - money has eased their paths through the world but world events, illnesses and deaths serve to illustrate the differences between the sisters.
Mary, an artist - selfish but successful. Margot, with her crippled foot and a lifetime of pain. Marriage, a child, widowhood and grandchildren for her.
Are the childhood memories true?
The first paragraph with the words of Freud, are an indication of what is to come in this book.
An interesting read.
May 29, 2026
2.5 rounded up
Set in Adelaide (although place had little impact and I don't think I would have known it was Adelaide without being told numerous times), this is a novel in four parts, two voices - sisters, and covering the years of their lives from childhood (Edwardian) to old age (1970s). A completely character driven story, and I am not sure what it was that didn't quite work for me but I found the reading quite a chore at times.
Set in Adelaide (although place had little impact and I don't think I would have known it was Adelaide without being told numerous times), this is a novel in four parts, two voices - sisters, and covering the years of their lives from childhood (Edwardian) to old age (1970s). A completely character driven story, and I am not sure what it was that didn't quite work for me but I found the reading quite a chore at times.
June 2, 2026
A story of the twisted relationship of two sisters at the turn of the 20th century in and around Adelaide. Mary dazzles with her creative, outgoing nature while Margot seems to let the world do what it will with her. Their childhood is fraught with games and conflict, and even as Margot marries and Mary travels overseas to pursue her art their relationship threatens them still. How much is siterly love and how much is spite?
June 5, 2026
I suspect this book is very clever. And I’ve missed something. But I just wanted more.
I didn’t like either of the main characters. I pitied one. But wasn’t rooting for either of them.
The ending felt unsatisfying.
But again, I suspect something has gone over my head.
Awkwardly suggested this for book club… so wish me luck with that.
I didn’t like either of the main characters. I pitied one. But wasn’t rooting for either of them.
The ending felt unsatisfying.
But again, I suspect something has gone over my head.
Awkwardly suggested this for book club… so wish me luck with that.
July 8, 2026
i found the first chapter of this book utterly captivating but it lost me little by little with each perspective shift - i think i dislike elderly voices, but also the time jumps were so severe. but i thoroughly enjoyed the premise and relished in the prose
July 10, 2026
the first few pages were what persuaded me into reading the book but it heavily failed to live up to it’s potential. failed to make me feel for the narrators and i was bored by the end of margot’s first section. dnf
October 14, 2026
I was relieved that there was no sororicide completed here. A great story charting the evolution of the relationship between two sisters. I loved that the voices and therefore the characters of the sisters were distinctly different and I found myself absorbed in the trajectory of their lives.
May 14, 2026
actually so boring, dnf’d at page 80. dry writing style and overly embellished metaphors and analogies describing the same thing over and over again.
Read
May 29, 2026really nailed the sisterhood thang
June 3, 2026
Ebook. I don’t have a sister but these two are going to stay with me for a long time. There is an understated authenticity about the story and the writing is sharp and super engaging.
June 4, 2026
Tedious
June 27, 2026
Loved it.
June 30, 2026
Two mean girls. I couldn’t get into it
July 14, 2026
Interesting read. The book ended with an anti-climax
August 21, 2026
Jealousy, malice, humour - this book has it all
September 15, 2026
Some vomit of words
October 1, 2026
Weird and dark and full of twists and time jumps I didn’t expect. Loved the Australian and early to mid 20th century setting.
October 2, 2026
Not a fan of the strange writing.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews