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A Tale of Two Sisters
A Tale of Two Sisters
Jul 11, 2025 8:41 AM

Author:Anna Maxted

A Tale of Two Sisters

They were the best of friends, they were the worst of friends ...

Lizbet and Cassie are close, yet far apart. After a clueless upbringing (their parents' basic childrearing beliefs: 'play a trombone, see a monkey, get some fresh air'), the two sisters strike out in opposite directions, both desperate to escape...

Cassie is skinny, clever, charismatic, successful - every right-thinking girl's worst nightmare. The one flaw in her quality-controlled life may be her marriage - and if there are any other flaws lurking, Cassie has them covered.

Lizbet is plumper, plainer, dreamier - more concerned about the design on her coffee cup than whether she can afford her new house. She works reluctantly for Ladzmag, desperate to make her name as a writer, but stuck writing embarrassing articles on sex. Her one achievement is her relationship with Tim, who thinks she's cute not stupid for asking why Jesus has a Mexican name.

Despite Cassie being the favoured child, she and Lizbet have managed to stay friends. Perhaps because - as Cassie says - they've always wanted different things. But that's about to change. Confronted by challenges that they never asked for, forced apart by mistakes not their own, will Cassie and Lizbet ever realise the real meaning of sisterhood, or will true nature ruin everything...?

Reviews

An intelligent and witty read

—— heat No.1 5*

Maxted has always succeeded in writing thoughtfully on assorted knotty issues without ever losing her sense of humour

—— Daily Mail

With her winning combination of honesty and warmth, Maxted has ensured herself another triumph

—— Glamour

Anna Maxted applies her usual intelligent, witty approach, making you laugh and cry in equal measure. Anyone who's had a sister, or ever wanted to scream with frustration about family life, will recognise themselves in this page-turner

—— heat

Hilariously funny tale which also manages to be wonderfully touching in places, too

—— OK!

Got a sister? Get ready to giggle and nod knowingly as you read this. Haven't got a sister? Get ready just to giggle as you read this anyway

—— More!

Anna Maxted has the extraordinary gift of being able to write a deeply humorous and racy tale covering the most heartbreaking situations without detracting in any way from the seriousness of the subjects of her story

—— CitytoCities

Fab and funny ... Anyone with a sister will be nodding their head the whole way through

—— Closer

Anna Maxted tells a tale of sibling rivalry with wit and emotion

—— InStyle

Warm, poignant and very funny

—— Marian Keyes

Hugely funny. Maxted writes beautifully

—— Daily Express

A riotous read with jokes galore cut through with lightly handled serious observations about the nature of poverty and the challenges of emerging female sexuality. It is also stunningly rude…

—— Sunday Express

Exuberant, funny coming-of-age tale with a highly-literate, resourceful Wolverhampton teen at its centre. As building girls goes this is one alternative instruction manual every woman should read

—— Daily Express

The self-conscious agonies of precocious yet sensitive Dolly ring painfully true, while the witty sex scenes, boozy anecdotes and one-liners make this great fun…

—— Sunday Mirror

An exuberant coming of age novel in DMs and ripped tights

—— Tatler

So funny it hurts. How to Build a Girl is Adrian Mole meets Fear of Flying. I predict they’ll be tears a plenty – both of laughter and excruciating recognition – on sun-loungers this summer

—— Harper’s Bazaar

Moran is a brilliantly funny writer, and How To Build A Girl is brimful of jokes

—— FT

This very British (and very naughty) coming-of-age novel will have you in literal hysterics!

—— Company

terrific - funny, honest and deliciously rude

—— Alice O'Keefe , The Bookseller

This is going to be a bestseller…A sharp, hilarious and controversial read

—— The Bookseller

I laughed aloud at this funny, outrageous story of a girl from Wolverhampton council estate who reinvents herself as Dolly Wilde

—— Woman & Home

as irreverent, amusing and vibrant as Moran herself

—— GQ

rowdy and fearless ... sloppy, big-hearted and alive in all the right ways

—— New York Times

Ms. Moran['s] ... funny and cheerfully dirty coming-of-age novel has a hard kernel of class awareness ... sloppy, big-hearted and alive in all the right ways.

—— Dwight Garner , New York Times

This is going to be a bestseller…A sharp, hilarious and controversial read

—— The Bookseller

Original, insightful

—— Neil Stewart , Civilian
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