My Sister and Other Lovers: A Novel by Esther FreudPublication Date: August 5, 2025
Pages: 288
Add on: Goodreads
Rating: ★★★★½
Source: From the Publisher
Genre: Fiction / Family Life
Publisher: Ecco / HarperCollins
The story of two sisters who couldn’t be more different and the love that holds them together throughout a tumultuous youth
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 their unsettled childhood to their turbulent teenage years, Lucy has been forced to make a choice between these two very different ways of approaching life.
But as the girls come of age and embark on their own experiments—in love, drugs, work, motherhood—Bea is at risk of drifting further and further away, and they find their lives, and their relationships, increasingly in turmoil. Can their love for each other transcend the damages of a past that feels almost too dangerous to examine?
With scalpel-sharp insight, Esther Freud excavates the most intimate relationships of our lives, laying bare the fear and longing, the secrets and mistrust. My Sister and Other Lovers is an irresistible exploration of love, family, and freedom in all its forms.
REVIEW
Esther Freud’s new novel hits close to home. Too close, maybe. The daughter of painter Lucian Freud takes us deep into the thorny world of sisterhood, where love and hate dance so close together you can’t tell them apart.
Lucy’s always played second fiddle to her sister. Or at least that’s how she sees it. Their relationship is a minefield of old grudges and unspoken truths, the kind that only siblings know how to navigate. Freud, drawing from her background as an actress, breathes life into these sisters until you’d swear you grew up with them.
The real magic here is in the details. A sideways glance at the dinner table. A borrowed dress that never made it home. The weight of words left unsaid. It’s like watching a master surgeon at work – precise, unflinching, and sometimes a little bloody.
Freud’s writing has a way of sneaking up on you. One minute you’re reading about a family dinner, the next you’re confronting universal truths about love, loss, and the stories we tell ourselves to get through the day. Her childhood in North Africa and her mother’s bedtime tales weave their way into the narrative, giving it a dreamlike quality that never quite lets you settle.
Sure, the pace slows down sometimes, like a Sunday afternoon at your parents’ house. But that’s exactly when the real stories come out, isn’t it? When everyone’s guard is down and the old photos come out.
My Sister and Other Lovers isn’t just another family drama – it’s a mirror. You might not like everything you see in it, but you won’t be able to look away.
4.5/5 – A masterclass in family fiction that’ll make you want to call your sister. Or maybe not.
