Sisters can be best friends, mother figures, rivals, heroes, sounding boards or partners in crime, depending on literary genre, era, or the demands of plot. They can bring into focus the changing roles of women in society, especially in literature that predates the twentieth century, such as Middlemarch, The Woman in White and The Old Wives’ Tale. Their bonds with younger or older siblings, like those of Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy in Little Women, are often complex and nuanced, and occasionally devastating.

Covering childhood, adventure, affairs of the heart and mental health, this book explores the role of sisters in twenty individual entries, each one providing a synopsis and analysis of the work in question. Including writers as diverse as Charles Dickens, E.M. Forster, J.D. Salinger, Toni Morrison and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, it makes the perfect read for book-loving sisters whatever their connection.