The Adventures of Madalene and Louisa

By M.S. Pasley, L. Pasley, Madalene S. and Louisa Edited by Tim Jeal Pasley

Book Overview

Two sisters in Victorian England describe the summer they had no governess and thus were able to entomologise as much as they liked.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0394509463
• ISBN13: 9780394509464
• Release Date: January 1980
• Publisher: Random House Trade
• Length: 43 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A charming and fascinating read

I received this book as a birthday gift when I was seven, and it sat in my bookcase for years, unappreciated. When I unearthed it in my teens I was completely fascinated by the hilarious story of two Victorian-era sisters (who draw themselves as ageing spinsters as an inside joke), on a series of strange adventures in entomology. Ink-and-watercolor drawings show them wrestling with giant insects, eluding the dull art teacher their father hires to 'refine' them, and tormenting their sour older sister Georgie. The best part about the book is that it is a reproduction of an actual graphic journal kept by Louisa Maria & Sabine Pasley. It provides a wonderful window into the minds of two women with extraordinary imagination, humor, and artistic talent, leading a light-hearted revolution against the rigidity of their time.