Emma Tennant, The Bad Sister

Gina Wisker (University of Brighton)
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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

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 19 March 2024.]

1527 The Bad Sister 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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