The Three Incestuous Sisters

This is a beautiful, artful, haunting illustrated book with a minimalist text. A picture book for grown-ups. With barely one sentence per page, the Gorey-like illustrations carry most of the narrative, which manages to be both operatic and understated, both tragic and charming.

Best known for her novel The Time Traveller's Wife, Niffenegger's next publication is this unusual, gothic "visual novel". Obviously a labour of love for Niffenegger, Sisters took several years to finish. The images are full-page sepia aquaprints, accompanying her haunting tale of three sisters, Ophile, Clothilde and Bettine, who live together in a "lonely house by the sea". The images are beautiful, showing the sisters with tall lithe figures, long clingy dresses and long colourful hair.

When the lighthouse keeper dies, he is replaced by the young Paris, who quickly falls in love with Bettine, the youngest and prettiest sister. The eldest sister, Ophile, is also in love with Paris, and her jealousy of Bettine takes a tragic turn. show more However, redheaded Clothilde is the most interesting sister, forming a psychic relationship with Bettine's unborn child. Clothilde is the heart and soul of the story, and it is her regret and hope that brings the story to its beautiful conclusion.

Though also highly original and melodramatic, Sisters is very, very different from The Time Traveller's Wife. Sisters is a grim yet thoughtful fairy tale whose evocative images will stay with you long after you have finished it. Niffenegger's talents certainly are not limited to her storytelling. show less

I stumbled upon this book in the library catalog a few weeks ago. I was frantically trying to reserve a copy of Her Fearful Symmetry so I could read it sometime before Christmas, and I saw that there were two books listed by Audrey Niffenegger I had never heard of: The Three Incestuous Sisters and The Adventuress. I immediately requested them both.

As you can see by the cover, the art is beautiful. I knew Niffenegger was an artist, but I somehow missed the news that she wrote these two illustrated novels. Before I read it, I thought "illustrated novel" might be semantics to market a graphic novel to those who might not necessarily read them otherwise (and specifically those who read The Time Traveler's Wife.). I was wrong. I enjoy show more graphic novels, but this book seems closest to a children's picture book in how it tells a story. The pictures are more powerful than the words, but they two elements work together beautifully.

The Three Incestuous Sisters is lushly illustrated. I read it with nomadreaderboy, and we would gladly purchase an additional copy to cut up, frame and hang all over our home. The art is beautiful. The story is fascinating and very Niffenegger. It has hints of the supernatural, but the sisters are flush with humanity. It's a quick read, but I found myself reading it (and gazing at the art) very slowly. I even read it in two sittings to make it last.

I absolutely loved this book. show less

Discovering the book by chance, I immediately fell under the spell of this enchanting visual novel, with its dream-like images and the sparse text with which A.N. creates more than depicts a complex world of emotions: of love and jealousy, of hurt and hurting, and of forgiveness. (IV-10)

My Jonathan Cape copy is beautifully designed and bound but the back cover spoilt by an ugly bar-code field that has been hidden in shame under a sticker.

four minute read, certainly enjoyable for the creepster etched art! however, not very ... incestuous? it can be construed from the subtext, maybe, but i don't know. beginning to suspect audrey niffenegger and i aren't meant to be together.

The beautifully sad tale of three sisters told as a visual novel, a story told in pictures. The youngest sister Bettine is blond and thought of as the prettiest, the eldest sister Ophile has blue hair and is the smartest, Clothilde is the middle sister with red hair and is the talented sister of the three. They live in a house by the sea away from the town, near the lighthouse. Each sisters life is changed in different ways when one night there is a storm and the lighthouse keeper is struck by lightening.

Sibling rivallry, mistaken identity, love, magic and a blue boy who can fly. Stunning pictures tell the tale with very few words. I think Clothilde was my favourite of the sisters as a lot of the pictures of her caught my imaginiation show more and attention. There are some of her with a headache, her communicating with an unborn baby, naming things in the world and practising her levitation that stood out in particular. It took the author (she also wrote The Time Travellers Wife) 13 years to create the pictures using aquatints after the project began as an artbook. I am sp glad she took the time and I was fascinated reading the afterwood.

I don't want to say much more here as I think the story speaks for itself. It is a short read and is well worth it. Definitely something I hope to revisit soon. show less

Audrey Niffenegger really wanted to publish this book. As a graphic artist the idea for it came to her long before The Time Traveler's Wife. But once she had that best seller under her belt she had the angle she needed to sell this idea. That being said this fairy tale/graphic novel is fairly beautiful and the story is interesting.