The True and Splendid History of the Harristown Sisters

Caroline Lennon's lilting performance is splendid in this lively look at morality and the Victorians' well-documented obsession with hair. In 1865, the seven Swiney sisters of Harristown, Ireland, are endowed with luxurious, lustrous, overabundant tresses--from golden to raven black--and beautiful voices. To avoid starvation, they become The Swiney Godivas, a vaudeville act. They sing, dance, and perform mini hair-related dramas, and as the pice de résistance, they let down their hair. Lennon captures the melodic Irish rhythms in both descriptions and dialogue. Each sister's voice is unique--sweet or whiny or fierce. The story is based on the real-life Sutherland sisters of upstate New York, who were also known for their lavish locks. Top-notch listening. S.J.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine

June 9, 2014
Lovric’s inventive fifth novel (after The Book of Human Skin) follows seven Irish sisters on a journey sparked by an improbable nationwide fascination with their hair. The fatherless Swiney girls live in famine-struck County Kildare in 1865. Desperate, they take to the stage under the name “The Swiney Godivas,” ending each performance by letting down their ankle-length tresses. Soon a doll maker senses the potential for profit in their “follicular attractions.” He persuades them to move to Dublin, where they become the latest sensation and adjust to affluence. Their namesake dolls and Swiney Godiva hair products rake in cash, but happiness proves more elusive. Darcy, the harsh and greedy eldest sister, keeps the others short of both pocket money and freedom. Heartbreak, deception, a muckraking journalist, and the public’s fickle taste all sabotage their success. Momentum falters midway though due to an overabundance of exposition, while a section set in Venice never quite convinces despite its precision of detail. Still, the book’s rollicking, earthy voice evokes 19th-century Ireland with gusto, and Lovric brings the sisters and their tangled relationships to life as they come full circle to confront the poverty and losses from their past.