It is Caroline who marries Call years later. Caroline gets to go off to Julliard while Louise quits school to work with her father. For a long time it seems that every relationship, every task undertaken by Louise only brings her defeat and greater heartache. Even that relationship, however, is the brunt of Grandmother's cruel jibes. She takes on a job traditionally reserved for males, that of crabbing with her friend Call, and soon realizes that she cannot work without finding her own identity.Ĭall and Louise make friends with Hiram Wallace, an old man who once left the island in disgrace. Louise knows the ways of the isolated island in the Chesapeake Bay on which they live.

The family makes great sacrifice to encourage and develop Caroline's considerable music talent, while pretty much ignoring Louise. The analogy of Louise and Caroline to Esau and Jacob is clear. It is the grandmother who cruelly whispers to Louise the verse from the Bible from which the title is taken, where God says, 'Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated'.

Her grandmother obviously favors Caroline and her sharp tongue only intensifies Louise's self-doubt.

All her life, Louise has felt robbed of proper schooling, friends, mother, and even her name (Sara Louise into Wheeze), by her beautiful, talented, popular twin sister, Caroline. This thoughtful novel, set in Chesapeake Bay in the 1940s, deals with sibling rivalry and is rich in psychology, geography, and human nature. This book was reviewed by Carol Otis Hurst in Teaching K-8 Magazine.

Jacob have i loved book