6 h 36 minAudiobook18 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 6 h 36 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
In a house full of sisters, how do you find room to become yourself?
The Madigan sisters share a lively, noisy home where growing up means living close to people who know you well. They quarrel, compete, and compare themselves with one another. In Miriam Michelson’s The Madigans, family life brings both warmth and friction, and each sister faces the task of finding her own place among the others.
Rivalry sits at the heart of this family story, but so does the daily closeness that shapes the sisters. Their household offers protection while leaving little room to stand apart. Michelson brings a journalist’s ear to their voices and a lively sense of detail to a world where humor and hurt often share the same room.
What you’ll discover
- A household with spirit Enter a noisy family home where shared lives shape each sister’s sense of herself.
- The sting of rivalry Explore how sisters measure themselves against one another while trying to find their own place.
- Room to grow Discover the pull between a crowded childhood and the wish to become your own person.
- Lively voices and details Enjoy Michelson’s ear for how people talk and her eye for the telling detail.
- Warmth beside friction Find the humor and hurt that come from sharing a home with those closest to you.
Who will love it
Readers who enjoy funny, quarrelsome families, girls with big tempers and sharp tongues, and the lively mining-town life of the American West, told in short episodes that you can enjoy one at a time.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Sissy tries to be good and fails
- Two sisters at war over music
- A stage fright and a sickbed
- The twins fight their own wars
- Irene dreams of a royal father
- Frank, the baby of many mothers
- Letters, a walking match, and a picnic
- What the book is really about
- How the stories are told
Who’s who
- Sissy MadiganThe eleven-year-old third sister, round and proud, who wants to be the perfect first-ranked girl and ends up a leader, a bully, and a secret softie.
- Split (Irene) MadiganThe second sister, a red-haired, athletic dancer and singer who fights Sissy daily and dreams of a grander family than her own.
- Kate MadiganThe eldest sister, fifteen, who reads romances, tries to act grown-up, and wants to escape both her younger sisters' teasing and a dull future.
- Bep and FomThe twins, one fair and clumsy with words, one dark and quick-witted, who fight nonstop and fear being stuck together for life.
- Frank (Frances)The four-year-old baby, who tells dramatic stories about her troubles and is passed from sister to sister like a toy.
- Francis MadiganThe girls' bitter, sharp-tongued father, who wanted sons, hides in his locked room with cards and birds, and mourns his lost share of a mine.
- Aunt AnneThe father's placid sister, who loves novels, writes endless begging letters, and dreams of a gentle angel child among all the Madigan hoydens.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 6 h 36 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 18 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Read and hear Die Madigans in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Die Madigans
by Miriam Michelson · 1904
Sissy writes ten promises to be good, and her sisters in a Nevada silver town wreck them by breakfast.
Medium level5–10 hours to read25 languages
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In short
The Madigans is a comic novel by Miriam Michelson about six sisters growing up in Virginia City, Nevada, a silver-mining town built at a steep slope up the side of Mount Davidson. Their father, Francis Madigan, is a brilliant, sour, unlucky man who wanted sons.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Sissy tries to be good and fails
The book opens on the first of April in Virginia City, Nevada. Cecilia Morgan Madigan, called Sissy, is eleven years old, round and serious, and proud of standing first in her class. She writes herself a solemn pact of ten promises, which range from dusting the back legs of the piano to being patient with her father. She folds it, kisses it for lack of a seal, and buttons it inside her corset waist. In a postscript she admits that the tenth promise, to bear with her sister Irene, will be the hardest.
The pact fails before breakfast. Irene, whom the whole family calls Split, slides a flat piece of ice down the back of Sissy's dress. The twins Bessie and Florence, nicknamed Bep and Fom, are no help with the buttons, and Sissy slaps them both. Aunt Anne then sends her to stand with her nose to the wall, her dress open down the back and a towel dangling from it. Kate laughs at the sight, and even Aunt Anne cannot keep a straight face, so Sissy pricks a rude word about her aunt into the wallpaper with a pin.
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What is The Madigans about?
It follows six sisters in Virginia City, Nevada, as they quarrel, scheme, and grow up under a gloomy father and a dreamy aunt who writes letters. Each chapter is a funny episode about pride, rivalry, and family loyalty.
Who are the main characters in The Madigans?
The story centers on Sissy, the proper third sister, and Split, the wild second one, with Kate, the twins Bep and Fom, and little Frank. Their father Francis and Aunt Anne also play key roles.
Why is Irene called Split?
Irene earns the nickname for a gymnastic feat that no other Madigan can match half as well. The family loves nicknames, so most of the sisters have several, such as Sissy, Bep, Fom, and Frank.
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