Nine writers trace the public and private lives of nine sets of sisters. Artists, publishers, writers, educationalists, philanthropists, revolutionaries, suffragists — thinkers all. Independent women with hopes and ideals who overcame barriers, even within their own families, to their participation in public life. Their stories have often been overlooked by the mainstream historical record. These essays take readers on a journey through the centuries from the 1600s to the turbulent years of the independence struggle in 1900s Ireland and uncover the influence, support and rivalries of family.

The nine sets of sisters featured in the book are the following:

Nualaidh, Máire and Mairghréad Ó Domhnaill
Alice, Sara, Lettice, Joan, Katherine, Dorothy and Mary Boyle
Katherine, Jane and Mary Conyngham
Deborah, Margaret, Mary and Sarah Shackleton
Lady Sydney Morgan and Lady Olivia Clarke
Anna and Fanny Parnell
Constance and Eva Gore-Booth
Susan and Elizabeth Yeats
Hanna, Margaret, Mary and Kathleen Sheehy