Sleep Pale Sister [Paperback]

Joanne Harris (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2004

"Sleep, Pale Sister", a powerful, atmospheric and blackly gothic evocation of Victorian artistic life, was originally published before Joanne Harris achieved worldwide recognition with "Chocolat". Henry Chester, a domineering and puritanical Victorian artist, is in search of the perfect model. In nine-year-old Effie he finds her. Ten years later, lovely, childlike and sedated, Effie seems the ideal wife. But something inside her is about to awaken. Drawn into a dangerous underworld of prostitution, murder and blackmail, she must finally plan her revenge.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In the first American release of her 1994 second novel, Chocolat, author Harris dives headlong into a ferocious Gothic ghost story. Henry Chester, the son of a stern Oxford minister and his unapproachable wife, develops an unhealthy interest in virginal young girls and a chloral habit after a life-altering experience during puberty. A gentleman artist of independent means, he disguises his unsavory sexual preference in his painting, frequenting lower class neighborhoods in search of models. On one trip, he encounters the hauntingly beautiful, fatherless Effie .She spends more and more time with Henry as model and protégé, and, despite a 23-year age difference, they marry when she's 17. Soon Effie becomes pregnant then miscarries. Though Henry keeps her drugged with laudanum, Effie eventually falls for Moses Harper, a rival painter and ne'er-do-well. Harper in turn introduces her to Fanny Miller, the occultist madam of a brothel that Henry frequents; she mothers the fragile Effie, and this trio cultivates a scheme to deal the despicable Henry a loaded hand. The pages fly by through multiple plot twists in a wash of drugs, ghosts and illicit sex in a tale that easily ranks among the best of the genre.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

From Booklist

First published in 1994 but never before published in the U.S., Harris' debut novel displays the author's versatility. From this creepy little gothic thriller, Harris has progressed to such different genres as the love story Chocolat (1999), the historical-suspense novel Five Quarters of the Orange (2001), and the cookbook-memoir My French Kitchen (2003). Classic in tone, the story begins with a mediocre Victorian painter's vision of capturing the innocence of childhood on canvas; then it creeps inexorably into the dark realms of psychological terror as Henry Chester's mad desire reveals itself. Tension mounts when his child model grows up and becomes his wife, molded by his will, drugged into submission with constant doses of laudanum. He visits a whorehouse, she dares an affair--no one is without a dark side. Harris explores the facets of twisted love and betrayal as she introduces macabre characters in bizarre circumstances, including a young ghost and a middle-aged prostitute-witch with a vendetta against Chester. This seemingly straitlaced Victorian household-turned-madhouse makes the gang at Manderley in du Maurier's Rebecca look tame in comparison. Jennifer Baker
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Black Swan (September 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0552771783
• ISBN-13: 978-0552771788
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 1.1 x 7.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,478,705 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Joanne Harris is the author of the critically acclaimed novels Blackberry Wine and Chocolat, which was nominated for the Whitbread Award, one of Britain's most prestigious literary prizes. Half French and half British, Harris lives in England.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a wonderful surprise by Joanne Harris - author of Chocolat, November 3, 2005

By 

Ratmammy "The Ratmammy" (Ratmammy's Town, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Sleep, Pale Sister (P.S.) (Paperback)

SLEEP, PALE SISTER by Joanne Harris
November 3, 2005

Amazon Rating: 4/5 Stars

Fans of Joanne Harris, most famous for Chocolat, will be delighted to read this older work by the beloved author, SLEEP, PALE SISTER. Originally published in 1994, it is quite different from her more current novels. SLEEP, PALE SISTER is a gothic novel, complete with ghosts, evil men and fainting women. Harris' taste for food is not apparent in this novel either. Basically, persons reading this book as their first taste of Joanne Harris will not know that this older novel is not typical of what she is known for today. Whether that is good or bad is left up to the reader.

The novel revolves around two characters, Effie, who is introduced when she is a young impressionable girl, and Henry Chester, who is a much older man, an artist who discovers Effie and falls for her, despite their age difference. Effie eventually marries Henry, when she is seventeen and he is in his forties, and Effie soon finds out she's made a big mistake. Henry's ideal woman is virginal and chaste, and the act of sex disgusts him. What Effie doesn't realize is that having sex with HER disgusts him, because he was attracted to her innocence, but his lust for women is lurking underneath his facade of purity and godliness.

Effie becomes ill quite often, especially after the miscarriage of her baby, and loses her love of life. Henry thinks she's just a typical weak woman, and lets her sleep away her days under the spell of the laudanum he insists she ingests. In the meantime, Henry meets Moses Harper, who becomes his protege, and Moses falls for the beautiful Effie. He's much closer in age to Effie, and notices how unhappy she is. The two start an affair, a dangerous deed since Henry has never hesitated to punish Effie if he felt she needed it.

Effie in turn meets Fanny Miller, a woman of ill repute who turns to Effie as if she were her own daughter. Fanny has her own secrets, one that includes Henry. The plot thickens as the four lives become intertwined.

The book is narrated by these four characters, each insisting that their viewpoint of the story is the truth. Henry insists that he is the one that was misunderstood, and the reader may sympathize with him for maybe a few pages, but as one gets to know him, the worse Henry will appear.

Those who love these gothic novels filled with dark overtones, paranormal beings and ladies in distress, this if for you. The only complaint I had was that the novel I felt went on a bit too long, but at the same time, I enjoyed getting to know the characters and was very engrossed by the story, eager to know how the book would end. It's not the typical Harris novel, so old fans be warned! I enjoyed SLEEP, PALE SISTER a lot and would have loved to have seen Joanne Harris write more books like this.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Harris' characters never fail to fascinate, March 20, 2005

By 

maria1971 - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sleep Pale Sister (Paperback)

Let me start by saying that Joanne Harris is one of my favorite writers - this book is a re-print of a novel that had first been published before she became well-known.

It features her usual blend of colorful characters (including the occasional spirit!) bound together by deep, and often dark, passion and magic.

Unusually, in this book she seems to have little sympathy for her characters - though I must admit that most of them really aren't all that likeable, the fact that even their creator can't sympathize with them or try to make some sort of excuse for them, makes them that much sadder.

I enjoyed reading it, but it's nowhere near one of her best works - I personally think she's at her best when writing about food, Chocolat being one of my all-time favorite books.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Artistic, Intriguing, FABULOUS!, October 17, 2005

By 

Susan K. Tucker "SophieK" (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sleep, Pale Sister (P.S.) (Paperback)

I am a huge fan of Joanne Harris' work. The first book of hers that I read was "5 quarters of the orange" and I LOVED it. I began reading all of the works that I could, which I enjoyed, but they never stood up to 5 Quarters. In "Sleep, Pale Sister" I have finally been able to find that same immersive book experience. I LOVED IT!