A circle of sisters : Alice Kipling, Georgiana Burne-Jones, Agnes Poynter, and Louisa Baldwin

The Macdonald sisters -- Alice, Georgiana, Agnes and Louisa -- started life among the ranks of the lower-middle classes, with little prospect of social advancement. But as wives and mothers they made a single family of the poet Rudyard Kipling, the Pre-Raphaelite painter Edward Burne-Jones, Edward Poynter, President of the Royal Academy, and the Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin. In telling their remarkable story, Judith Flanders displays the fluidity of Victorian society, and explores the life of the family in the 19th century. "The Macdonald sisters - Alice, Georgiana, Agnes and Louisa - started life precariously stationed in the teeming ranks of the lower-middle class. They were denied the advantage of a traditional education, or the expectation of social advancement. Yet, as wives and mothers, they were to connect a famous painter, a president of the Royal Academy, a prime minister and a poet. Georgiana and Agnes married, respectively, Edward Burne-Jones and Edward Poynter; Louisa gave birth to Stanley Baldwin, whilst Alice was the mother of Rudyard Kipling." "A Circle of Sisters brings to life four women who lived at an exceptional and privileged moment in history. Their journey, in a single generation, from provincial obscurity to metropolitan and imperial grandeur symbolized the energy and vitality of nineteenth-century Britain. This was a society open to talent and abundant with possibility, where four lowly born sisters could rise to become the intimates of politicians, princes and viceroys."--BOOK JACKET. I. Childhood: -- Inheritance -- 'So entirely domestic': 1835-1850 -- 'Moving tent': 1850-1853 -- London: 'enchanted ground': 1853-1858 -- II. Marriage and Children: -- Travelling in New Worlds: 1859-1862 -- Industrious Apprentices: 1862-1866 -- 'Love enough to last out a long life': 1866-1871 -- Spartan Mothers: 1872-1877 -- Faith and Works: 1877-1882 -- III. Empty Nests: -- Families Square: 1882-1884 -- Leaving Home: 1884-1888 -- Cousinhood: 1888-1892 -- Settling Down: 1892-1894 -- Separations: 1895-1898 -- IV. Old Age and Death: -- 'Pack of troubles': 1898-1906 -- 'Pain of parting.' The Macdonald sisters - Alice, Georgiana, Agnes and Louisa - started life among the ranks of the lower-middle classes. But as wives and mothers they made a single family of the poet Rudyard Kipling, the Pre-Raphaelite painter Edward Burne-Jones, Edward Poynter, and the Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin. This title presents Macdonald sisters' story.