I’ll admit I didn’t see it coming, even if I knew something was on its way. How much you appreciate the film will largely depend on how effective you feel that revelation is. There was also a background of tension arising from the broken relationships between Elizabeth’s husband, judge Sir Henry Gwillim, and both his Chief Justice and the Governor of Madras.More so than most horror films, A Tale of Two Sisters relies on the impact of its climactic big reveal (think Sixth Sense big).
Behind all this was an undercurrent of anxiety about news from home, correspondence difficulties, war with France and a terrifying sepoy mutiny in Vellore. Her younger sister, Mary, contented herself with descriptions of places, people and surroundings, not always complimentary to her peers. She also had a strong fascination for all things Indian: the people their history religions and languages, which she relates with enthusiasm, and then widens this with evident talent for botany and horticulture.
Both women were accomplished artists, the older one, Elizabeth, deserving significant recognition for her extraordinary bird paintings. Both describe day-to-day life, occupations and relationships in the earliest days of British settlement, providing a rare glimpse into the social history of a place in India, far from home.
These letters give a personal and intimate insight into the lives of two sisters living in Madras (now Chennai) in the time of Jane Austen.
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