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My Sister and Other Lovers

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My Sister and Other Lovers

By: Esther Freud
Narrated by: Esther Freud
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About this listen

 Bloomsbury presents My Sister and Other Lovers, written and read by Esther Freud.

A captivating coming-of-age novel about love, sisterhood, secrets and betrayal

'Slender, perfect and sparkling ... I'm stricken with love for this book' Meg Mason

'Details the profound and complex nature of love and family ... Spare, moving and beautifully written' Jojo Moyes

‘Freud brings us directly inside the beating hearts of her characters. I loved this’ Miranda Cowley Heller

‘Both delicate and profound – about how relationships bind us together and pull us apart’ Tracy Chevalier

____________________________________________________

From the author of Hideous Kinky comes a captivating novel about sisterhood, secrets, betrayal and love.

For as long as Lucy can remember, she’s been caught between loyalty to her rootless, idealistic mother and devotion to her fierce and exacting sister, Bea. From her unsettled childhood to her turbulent teenage years, she’s been forced to make a choice.

But as the sisters come of age and embark on their own experiments – in love, drugs, work, motherhood – they find their lives, and their relationships, increasingly in turmoil.

Can the love they have for each other transcend the damage of the past? Or is the past too dangerous to examine?©2025 Esther Freud (P)2025 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc Coming of Age Genre Fiction Literature & Fiction Heartfelt
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Having devoured Hideous Kinky and loved Esther’s other novel I couldn’t love you more I was so looking forward to this. I have always been fascinated by the childhood she and Bella had and this explains so much more, how those early experiences shape the life and relationships they have. It also had many parts which resonate and draw you in leaving you thoughtful about your own experiences. It’s left me wanting to know more, I thinks there’s so much more to say. It feels like a very generous and personal insight and you take from it a desire to be more open less judgmental and more forgiving with those people we love. Thanks Esther please write more soon.

Intimate storytelling about life and love

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I can see why the author narrated this herself as it’s written in an unusual way. It takes a fair amount of concentration and a few playbacks not to lose the thread. I look forward to reading the book. I think it helps to read ‘hideous kinky’ first to understand the family dynamics.

Multithreaded

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I have to start, now , at the beginning of the book again.
Beautifully read ( of course) a book of such delicacy and finesse. Exquisite detail. Did not want it to end.

Utter joy

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I always enjoy Esther Freud's novels. She writes beautifully and there are some funny, sad, and cringy portrayals of relationships. This is a partial return to the ground covered by Hideous Kinky and Peerless Flats but examines the impact of a bohemian and sometimes neglectful childhood in adulthood. Overall I found it gripping. However the final section, with a very odd couple of chapters on the impact of therapy, feels rushed, and Lucy's mother gets off too lightly in my view!
Freud narrates her own work well - never a given - although oddly mispronounces a couple of words. Plaid is pronounced 'plad' not played!
I will be thinking about this novel for some time.

Beautifully written as always

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So happy to find out what happened to Lucy and Bea after all these years. Hideous Kinky is one of my favourite books of all time. So lovely to have this read by Esther herself too. Thoroughly enjoyed 😊

Been waiting for this for years!

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