The moment number two child arrives in the family you have sibling rivalry. With that first insistent cry for attention, the tug of war between siblings to win the title of the most loved has left the starting block. Who is mummy’s little angel, who little miss bossy boots, who goody two shoes, who the handful. These titles bestowed on the tiny head often set the pattern for how in the future we will see ourselves. But whatever unfair judgements they may feel is their lot, siblings are the keepers of each other’s stories and have a unique perception of the other’s personality. More often than not, shared blood and memories work their magic to dilute the rivalry and replace it with unconditional love—but not always.

Fiction writers have a hard job matching the violence and jealousies of real-life sibling rivalries, and of course you would think that Shakespeare who gave us King Lear and his three rivalrous daughters, Regan, Goneril and Cordelia has said practically everything about siblings that there is to say. Yet crime and mystery fiction seem endlessly capable of finding fearful and compelling new twists in their tales to keep us engaged. They continue to present us with thrilling stories of human nature at its best and worst, of hidden emotions, of loyalty and betrayal. Here are nine tales of sibling rivalry and woe, from classic literature to stories grounded in modern life, all with an affinity for the mysterious and the twisted.

Josephine Hart, Sin

Article continues after advertisement

In a mere hundred and seventy-three pages this author keeps her readers spellbound. It’s the story of two sisters, one adopted. They are the light and the dark of human nature, the yin and yang; Ruth is the dark jealousy fueled one, Elizabeth the one filled with good intentions.

‘Not born to murder her, still I sought to break her. With a small silver hammer of exquisite design, I would seek the exact point at which even the gentlest pressure would smash the glass. And her substance would be mine.’

Enough said, I think, to let us know what is in store for us her lucky readers.

John Steinbeck, East of Eden

This classic tale of sibling rivalry is based on the story of Cain and Abel (the title comes from Cain’s exile to the land of Nod, located to the east of Eden). Sibling rivalry between two brothers, sparked by the parental favouritism, is worsened when one falls for the other’s girlfriend.

Article continues after advertisement

Shirley Jackson, We Have Always Lived In The Castle

It has been said that this final novel of Shirley Jackson is her greatest and I agree. We are drawn into the story from the first page. ‘I like my sister Constance, and Richard Plantagenet, and Amanita phalloides, the death-cup mushroom. Everyone else in my family is dead.’

These words are spoken by our first-person narrator, the strange but delectable Merricat, sister of Constance. Ever since Constance was acquitted of murdering the rest of the family Merricat has become possessive of her, so much so that we begin to wonder if indeed it wasn’t Merricat who despatched them. Out of the blue cousin Charles arrives. Under the guise of friendship, he hides a desperate need to get into the family safe. Merricat feels threatened by him and must do everything she can to protect her wonderful but fragile way of life. It’s an exquisite and unsettling story of family rivalries, a small dark modern Gothic masterpiece.

Patrick De Witt, The Sisters Brothers

The book opens in 1851 in Oregon City when the lust for gold has the brothers, Eli and Charlie Sisters, on the road to California. On their journey they cross paths with a stunning list of characters: bad women, manipulators and losers, cheats and lovers. Charlie is a hard man who will do anything to get what he wants, Eli is influenced by Charlie but is in the midst of questioning his way of life. Think fireworks, think energy, think deeply dark and surprisingly funny, and you will be halfway to knowing all the goodies that await you in this book.

Tim Winton, Cloudstreet

Tim Winton tells this Australian story to wonderful effect. It’s the tale of two working class Australian families, the Lambs (a god-fearing bunch) and the Pickles (considered wastrels). Cloudstreet is the name of the big messy house that both families end up occupying together. Parents and siblings live their inextricably linked lives over a period of twenty years. We share birth and death, marriage and adultery, loss and gain, as they go from World War II up to the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Siblings argue and fight, they worry about each other, they go fishing and swimming together; it’s a soap opera full of the joy and the awfulness of knowing not only where you belong, but also of loving and hating the tribe that holds you only slightly against your will.

Harper Lee, To Kill A Mockingbird

It’s almost a cliché to choose this Pulitzer prize winning novel. When asked what is their favorite book a large percentage of writers and readers will choose this novel over all others. Cliché it may be but none the less for it. The story written in 1960 takes place in 1930 during the great depression. The Finch family live in the deep South, brooding hurricane country, where knowing your place especially if you are black holds sway. The story unfolds in the voice of Scout Finch, younger sister to brother Jem, and daughter to lawyer father Atticus, a quiet American guided by his inner compass of right and wrong. A young black man is accused of raping a white woman and the townsfolk are full of fury, filled with the desire for a lynching. Scout’s father Atticus takes on the case of the innocent accused and the white citizens of the small racist town take against him, while the black community welcome him in. It’s a coming of age story but so much more than that. Racism, poverty, ignorance, and what we learn through the pores of our skin in childhood drive the almost perfect plot. The siblings Scout and Jem come to know through the example of their modest hero father Atticus, that the truth is worth putting yourself in the firing line for.

Scout and Jem fight both physically and verbally. Jem to Scout, I’m tellin you for last time, shut your trap or go home—I declare to the Lord you’re gettin more like a girl every day. Their love and rivalry is an ongoing competitive mix in the story. The title comes from a line in the book. Kill all the blue jays you want, if you can hit em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird. I get the itch every so often to re-read this book. Having it on my bookshelves is a comfort, like keeping a bar of your favourite chocolate in the cupboard. You know you are going to eat it sooner or later and you know it will satisfy.

Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov

If you are up for eight hundred pages, multiple characters, and a complex storyline, this last great novel of Dostoevsky is the one for you. God and the devil in various forms are set against each other, while the murder of the hedonist patriarch of the three brothers, Fyodor Karamazov, is the incident that drives the plot. It’s hard to believe that these three brothers are from the same bloodline, so different in character are they. The eldest is just like his father, a selfish pleasure seeker; the middle one is of a practical somewhat clinical nature, while the youngest is a tender character, spiritual in nature, warmer than his siblings. We are lead to believe that the unlikeable character Pavel may be a fourth illegitimate son, but our author never confirms this. Madness is a constant theme in Dostoevsky’s stories and it plays a big part in this one, as does greed, lechery and the best and worst of human nature. Dostoevsky takes on Shakespeare and comes out of the ring without visible wounds. Enjoy.

Akhil Sharma, Family Life

Set in Delhi towards the end of the seventies, this story follows two young brothers waiting for their father to send them tickets to join him in America. When they get there, life in America is all they imagined and more, until tragedy strikes.

Philippa Gregory, The Other Boleyn Girl

Set in the time of Henry the Eighth, this novel tells the story of the Boleyn sisters, Mary and Ann. There’s plenty of sex and intrigue along the dark corridors at court where the Boleyn and Howard men plot to put a daughter of their house on the English throne. One sister lost her head of course, but you’ll have to read the book to find out what happened to the other.