Sisters

by Ada Cambridge, Nancy Cato (Editor)

His thoughts went back to the days when they rode and made love together--the sunny days, before the clouds gathered. It was that past which glorified her all at once, not the present--not Mr Thornycroft's money--not the halo of elegance and consequence that again adorned her; he never suspected otherwise for a moment. And that was why he did not hesitate to book a passage to Australia that very day.

Genres: Australia

236 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1904

About the author

Ada Cambridge (21 November 1844 – 19 July 1926), later known as Ada Cross, was an English-born Australian writer.
Overall she wrote more than twenty-five works of fiction, three volumes of poetry and two autobiographical works.[1] Many of her novels were serialised in Australian newspapers, and were never published in book form.
While she was known to friends and family by her married name, Ada Cross, she was known to her newspaper readers as A.C.. Later in her career she reverted to her maiden name, Ada Cambridge, and it is thus by this name that she is known.

Ada Cambridge married the Rev. George Cross in 1870 and immediately sailed for Australia. They lived in various towns in Victoria but finally settled in Melbourne. When her husband wanted to return to England, Ada reluctantly followed him and lived in England again from 1912 to 1917. Upon her husband's death in 1917 she returned to Australia where she remained for the rest of her life.

Selected Bibliography
* Hymns on the Litany (1865)
* Hymns on the Holy Communion (1866)
* The Manor House: and Other Poems (1875)
* My Guardian (Novel, 1877)
* In Two Years' Time (Novel, 1879)
* A Mere Chance (Novel, 1882)
* Unspoken Thoughts (Novel, 1887)
* A Woman's Friendship (Serialised in the Age, 1889; first published in book form in 1988)
* A Marked Man (Novel, 1890)
* The Three Miss Kings (Novel, 1891)
* Not All in Vain (Novel, 1892)
* A Little Minx (Novel, 1893)
* A Marriage Ceremony (Novel, 1894),
* Fidelis (Novel, 1895)
* A Humble Enterprise (Novel, 1896),
* At Midnight: and Other Stories (1897)
* Materfamilias (Novel, 1898),
* Path and Goal (Novel, 1900)
* The Devastators (Novel, 1901)
* Thirty Years in Australia (Memoir, 1903)
* Sisters (Novel, 1904)
* A Platonic Friendship (Novel, 1905)
* A Happy Marriage (Novel, 1906)
* The Eternal Feminine (Novel, 1907)
* The Retrospect (Memoir, 1912)
* The Hand in the Dark: and Other Poems (1913)
* The Making of Rachel Rowe (Novel, 1914)

Reviews

[Brona's Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sisters is the story of four young women coming of age on a rural property in northern Victoria. But it is also the story of Guthrie Carey, a young sailor whose life crosses paths with the sisters at various points.

The perils and pitfalls of love and marriage dominate the story. It would seem that Cambridge had a pretty cynical view and very low expectations for happiness within the confines of marriage.

We have an unhappy marriage with a power imbalance, a domestic goddess whose life is taken up with child bearing and child rearing, an adultress, a nursemaid, a man still in love with his former wife's ghost and a lonely old, man dreaming of a love that will never be!

I'm certainly very curious to know more about Cambridge's own marriage now.

If Sisters is a fair example of her work, then I will certainly be seeking out more. She doesn't write with the same breadth and depth as Henry Handel Richardson, but she does tackle women's issues and class consciousness head-on in a time when this was not really the done thing in literature.

Sisters features some fabulous dialogue and memorable descriptions. Debbie and Carey in particular, are fully realised characters that will live me for a long time to come.
Full review with spoilers here - http://bronasbooks.blogspot.com.au/20...

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read my thoughts here:

https://bookaroundthecorner.wordpress...

[Tracy Macmillan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read- absorbing characters, gorgeous settings in colonial Australia and interesting insights into social values in 19th Century Australia.