Emma Tennant, The Bad Sister

Gina Wisker (University of Brighton)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.3: Scottish Writing and Culture, 400-present.
Vol. editors: Kate Ash-Irisarri (University of Edinburgh), Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Gina Lyle (University of York), J. Derrick McClure (University of Aberdeen), Andrew Radford (University of Glasgow)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1978

Places

Scotland (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

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The Bad Sister

(1978) is a tale of witches in contemporary life. Drawing from and reinterpreting James Hogg\'s classic Gothic tale

Confessions of a Justified Sinner

, which focused on an evil alter ego, the novel is itself rather schizophrenic, alternating between a documentary account of the murder of Michael Dalzell and his daughter, tracked down by an editor, and a hallucinatory account maintained by Jane, the other, illegitimate daughter, who seems to have perpetrated the crime.

Rejecting his less conventional lover, Michael Dalzell chooses a society girl and settles happily on the Borders of Scotland, only to have this relative peace disturbed by the intrusion of “fierce-looking women” (p.12 in Travesties), who settle on his lands in a semi derelict cottage. A pitched battle

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361 words

Citation: Wisker, Gina. "The Bad Sister". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 01 January 2002 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=1527, accessed 27 November 2024.]

Emma Tennant, The Bad Sister

Dates

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