Unfortunately wasn’t able to finish it as I had mixed feelings on the book. I like a memoir but found there was a lot of information added which wasn’t necessary to the story and just didn’t have the urge to pick it up anymore.

Excellent read, I really enjoyed this one.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publishers for letting me read an advance copy of this book in exchange for my review.

I loved when did you last see your father and this is similar soul-bearing stuff, beautifully written, although I did sometimes feel queasy about how exposed BM's sisters lives were I would still recommend it as a way of understanding complicated family dynamics.

This books describe the relationship between two siblings: the eldest of the two is the one writing the book after the youngest sister, who suffered from alcoholism for many years,

The story is super interesting, however I found the first half filled with stories of siblings, which I felt were too many and took away from the narration.

The first book I have read by Blake Morrison, and it made me want to read more of his work.
It also made me want to drink less! It's a sad and moving memoir, and whist I enjoyed the literary diversions, they are just that (and acknowledged as so). I probably needed a few pages less of other author's siblings, and more of this author's siblings.

I've really enjoyed the author's previous non fiction but came to Two Sisters with some hesitancy due to the addiction issues explored.
Blake Morrison's sister Gill died in 2019 and the memoir explores her addiction, the author's relationship with her and with their half sister Josie. As someone who also experienced growing up with an addict and has complex half sibling relationships I felt this to be very relatable emotionally without being triggering. The author also weaves into the memoir an exploration of the sibling relationships of famous literary figures.
This is a beautifully written memoir that I became completely absorbed in and would recommend.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.

Following his well regarded accounts of his tangled relationships with his parents, Blake Morrison now tells the tragic stories of his sister, Gill and half sister, Rosie allied to stories of other siblings

It is a heartbreaking account of the ravages of addiction but the skill of the author and his acute memories allied to his ability to write beautiful prose make this an absorbing and worthwhile, if sometimes, uncomfortable read.

Blake Morrison has previously written individual memoirs about his North Yorkshire GP parents and here he turns to his two younger sisters. One, Gill, shared his generally warm traditional childhood; the other, his unacknowledged half-sister, Josie, sometimes shared, apparently without too much awkwardness, outings and family holidays. Both Gill and Josie had what could be described as tragic lives, and Morrison unpicks his relationships with each of them. He probes his responsibilities, notes his fraternal failings and does his best to celebrate them, alongside reflections on other writers’ sibling relationships – from George Elliot and Henry James to Laurie Lee and Harper Lee – in their work and in real life.

Towards the end of Two Sisters, Morrison writes, ‘I do sometimes ask myself: why are you writing this?... It’s a sad story… Why bother? And what if it’s no more than a misery memoir, that most despicable of genres?’ His answer to his own question is: ‘Aren’t all lives, however damaged, of importance? Besides, what else would I write? For now it’s all I can think about about.’ The stories of Gill and Josie are undoubtedly sad, but this isn’t misery memoir – it doesn’t wail, it’s too self-aware, too quiet and thoughtful. Yes, all lives are of importance, but Morrison’s skill is that he makes them of interest too.

I'm familiar with Blake Morrison as a writer because he lives in Suffolk but have to confess that I don't think I've actually read any of his work before. However, I do like a memoir so took up this latest instalment in his family records. If you remember, he has previously achieved plaudits for 'And When Did You Last See Your Father?' and 'Things My Mother Never Told Me'.

This book is released on the 30th anniversary of his memoir 'And When Did You Last See Your Father?' which was a bestseller and forged a new genre of confessional writing. He has been able to release it now, he says, because both sisters of whom he writes, and their parents, are dead and so he feels free to tell his story without fear of offending or intruding on their privacy.

Nevertheless I did feel slightly uneasy in reading about the ordinary, very personal details of everyday family life.

There is nothing outstanding or unusual for Morrison to report. The consequences of Morrison's father's behaviour were rather surprising in that he effectively managed to oversee two families in plain sight without being challenged, and Morrison's sister Gill was tragic in her alcohol dependency, loss of sight and sudden death. But overall this is a beautifully written account of nothing much happening.

Morrison describes his childhood, youth and then adulthood in delightful, nostalgic detail and interweaves this family story with his discoveries about other brother-sister relationships. There is of course William and Dorothy Wordsworth, Henry James and his sisters, but also Charles and Mary Lamb, who together wrote 'Tales from Shakespeare'. I was shocked to read that Mary Lamb killed their mother by stabbing her but spent only six weeks in a mental institution for her crime.

But there is a melancholy, regretful tone about Morrison's recollections. He acknowledges the shame, embarrassment and bewilderment of having a close family member with an addiction. There's a sense of British distance in his observations, of not getting involved. And consequently there's his feeling of guilt at not knowing what to do to help, and having not tried harder. It's poignant and haunting.

A very powerful and gripping story that is difficult to read in some parts but worth sticking with. This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and I would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

The two sisters of the title could either refer to Morrison’s sister Gill’s two sides, or to the revelations that come to light within his family.
In a memoir that’s trying to make sense of his sister Gill (his Irish twin’s) life and death, Morrison turns to the lives of brothers and sisters through history. We hear about the Brontes, Wordsworths and many more sibling relationships.
It’s a touching portrait of his sister. Morrison partly blames himself for not doing more to protect his sister and this memoir feels like a way of working through this survivor guilt.
I love reading about ordinary lives and i
found this so compelling.
Recommended: written with love, this is a fascinating insight into Gill’s situation and what brought her to this pony, but it’s also Blake Morrison’s story told from another perspective (through his sister).

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5

Two Sisters is a memoir about Blake’s relationship with his younger sister Gill, following her death in 2019. The main theme of this memoir is Gill’s struggles with alcoholism, and her eventual decline until her death. While Blake technically also has a half-sister, the two sisters referred to in the title are both Gill, her caring, nurturing side, and her self-destructive, addicted side.

Despite being a memoir, Morrison also discusses brother-sister relationships throughout history, and the relative lack of such relationships in literature, especially written from the brother’s perspective. While I found some of this interesting, I can’t say I knew a lot about many of the siblings he was talking about, and so a fair bit of it went over my head. When discussing his own sister, Morrison’s writing style is extremely matter-of-fact, despite the obvious emotional context, but it still managed to feel quite personal, especially in discussing his own feelings towards members of his family.
While I enjoyed the writing, I do feel like something was missing for it to really have that lasting impact, perhaps as, as Morrison admits, their sibling relationship wasn’t one that would be typically described as ‘close’, and so a deeper insight into Gill’s own state of mind wasn’t present.

Two Sisters by Blake Morrison explores brother sister relationships, mental illness and alcoholism, family dynamics.

What a sad story that emerges from the shadows of two sisters whose lives were shorter than they should have been.

I haven't read Blake Morrison's former two memoir's about his parents so came to this with an open mind but was drawn into Gill's story that progresses from the happy-go-lucky, younger Irish twin to a tortured woman who by the end of her life has descended into alcoholism. The book is really Blake Morrison trying to make sense of that.

Intertwined is the story of Blake & Gill's younger half-sister, never acknowledged as such, but still part of their childhood landscape. Josie's story is more opaque still, but no less devastating for that.

I did struggle with some of the references to other siblings as I'm not sure all of these added anything to the book, and I confess I ended up skipping some of the longer ones.

A book to reflect on and one that made me grateful to my own sibling!

'If you're reading this, my sister is dead,' one of the early chapters begins. As well as exploring the worlds of real-life siblings such as Charles and Mary Lamb (another challenging woman)! William and Dorothy Wordsworth and Felix and Fanny Mendelson, the story also expands from the original territory of Morrison and sister Gill to take in another sister - Blake's half-sister Josie, the second of the two sisters.

In the first memoir, And When Did You Last See Your Father? - Blake establishes his father's status as a charismatic local GP who made his own peace (and whose wife seems to have done, too) with his infidelity. This book deals with the aftermath, and the effect it had (or didn't have - Blake is never sure) on Gill and Josie.

SPOILERS: I originally assumed that the title refers to the two sides of Gill, the sober and the drunk sides (practical, devoted, a loving mother/chaotic, self-pitying, deceptive), but while less is known about Josie, she seems to have been a woman of two sides too, whose death was less expected - she wasn't an addict - and who was apparently undisturbed by the revelation of her paternity, having known since childhood, but nonetheless the revelation does come awfully close to her sudden death).

Morrison jokes about his compulsion for self-revelation, and there are some very excoriating moments here as well as some terrible puns - do we really need to know about his undescended testicle and 'poor bowel control' in his early teens? But generally, this is an important book and beautifully written - I just hope for everyone involved that it's the last one.

An interesting look at not just the authors relationships with his siblings, but other people's too.
I'd forgotten what a tangled web the Morrison family was.
Pulled on the heartstrings a few times as he detailed his sisters battles with alcohol.