Having long enjoyed this author's work, I found this story about a double set of identical twins born to the same father most interesting. Alike in appearance, their personalities, goals and aspirations were very different.
Taking place in Australia during the great depression, the story centers on women who live in Corunda, a fictional city. They have different mothers but the same father, Rev. Thomas Latimer, a rector of the Church of England. So meet Edda and Grace, and Tufts and Kitty and follow their lives from training and work as nurses to careers and marriage. Three marry but two become single again. Grace's husband, losing his job and becoming depressed, commits suicide while Kitty abandons her jealous and possessive husband to move in with a man who understands her.
The author contrasts cultural beliefs of Australians and the English and traditional beliefs with changing mores. Physical Australia, the author's first home, serves as background for the very real characters as their lives develop. Politics, romance, career goals and development emphasize the changing roles of women. Note, too, that the author set up Sydney's department of neurophysiology at Royal North Shore Hospital and was a Yale Medical School researcher for ten years. I urge readers to discover this fine. It's a good one.
Taking place in Australia during the great depression, the story centers on women who live in Corunda, a fictional city. They have different mothers but the same father, Rev. Thomas Latimer, a rector of the Church of England. So meet Edda and Grace, and Tufts and Kitty and follow their lives from training and work as nurses to careers and marriage. Three marry but two become single again. Grace's husband, losing his job and becoming depressed, commits suicide while Kitty abandons her jealous and possessive husband to move in with a man who understands her.
The author contrasts cultural beliefs of Australians and the English and traditional beliefs with changing mores. Physical Australia, the author's first home, serves as background for the very real characters as their lives develop. Politics, romance, career goals and development emphasize the changing roles of women. Note, too, that the author set up Sydney's department of neurophysiology at Royal North Shore Hospital and was a Yale Medical School researcher for ten years. I urge readers to discover this fine. It's a good one.
Having long enjoyed this author's work, I found this story about a double set of identical twins born to the same father most interesting. Alike in apperance, their personalities, goals and aspirations were very different.
Taking place in Australia during the great depression, the story centers on women who live in Corunda, a fictional city. They have different mothers but the same father, Rev. Thomas Latimer, a rector of the Church of England. So meet Edda and Grace, and Tufts and Kitty and follow their lives from training and work as nurses to careers and marriage. Three marry but two become single again. Grace's husband, losing his job and becoming depressed, commits suicide while Kitty abandons her jealous and possessive husband to move in with a man who understands her.
The author contrasts cultural beliefs of Australians and the English and traditional beliefs with changing mores. Physical Australia, the author's first home, serves as background for the very real characters as their lives develop. Politics, romance, career goals and development emphasize the changing roles of women. Note, too, that the author set up Sydney's department of neurophysiology at Royal North Shore Hospital and was a Yale Medical School researcher for ten years. I urge readers to discover this fine. It's a good one.
Taking place in Australia during the great depression, the story centers on women who live in Corunda, a fictional city. They have different mothers but the same father, Rev. Thomas Latimer, a rector of the Church of England. So meet Edda and Grace, and Tufts and Kitty and follow their lives from training and work as nurses to careers and marriage. Three marry but two become single again. Grace's husband, losing his job and becoming depressed, commits suicide while Kitty abandons her jealous and possessive husband to move in with a man who understands her.
The author contrasts cultural beliefs of Australians and the English and traditional beliefs with changing mores. Physical Australia, the author's first home, serves as background for the very real characters as their lives develop. Politics, romance, career goals and development emphasize the changing roles of women. Note, too, that the author set up Sydney's department of neurophysiology at Royal North Shore Hospital and was a Yale Medical School researcher for ten years. I urge readers to discover this fine. It's a good one.
ollows the lives and loves of four women who share the same father A pair of twins, each pair having a different mother. Fathers first wife having died in childbirth.His second wife desires all the trappings of success but never comes close to the successful lives achieved by the sisters.
The four characters are a believable and cohesive group who are strongly supportive of each other. Yet each develops very distinctly separate characters. . The result is an enjoyable read that will entertain while at the same time it opens a door on the politicisation of hospitals before they became grouped under area health boards. A process that is now in reverse! It would be some decades since the author was a hospital employee, But she hasn't forgotten the experiences or people she encountered. McCullough evokes a strong sense of the people and the mores of that time. Her portrait of life for the average person through the depression, and the tragic losses sustained by many families is skillfully woven into her plot.
One other theme that is drawn on throughout the book. It is the robust pragmatism that Australians rely on to get the best out of whatever life and circumstance deliver to them.
The four characters are a believable and cohesive group who are strongly supportive of each other. Yet each develops very distinctly separate characters. . The result is an enjoyable read that will entertain while at the same time it opens a door on the politicisation of hospitals before they became grouped under area health boards. A process that is now in reverse! It would be some decades since the author was a hospital employee, But she hasn't forgotten the experiences or people she encountered. McCullough evokes a strong sense of the people and the mores of that time. Her portrait of life for the average person through the depression, and the tragic losses sustained by many families is skillfully woven into her plot.
One other theme that is drawn on throughout the book. It is the robust pragmatism that Australians rely on to get the best out of whatever life and circumstance deliver to them.
Mrs. McCullough always creates some great characters that
feel so real. This story was good also; culture crashes in
Australian marriages. etc.
feel so real. This story was good also; culture crashes in
Australian marriages. etc.
The premise of Bittersweet by Colleen McCullough holds such promise. Four strong young women four sisters - set out to train as nurses, seeking change and independence in 1920s and 1930s Australia. I wanted and expected the story of women doing great things or at least managing life on their own; what I got was a romance with heroes and villains.
Read my complete review at: http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2014/08/bittersweet-novel.html
*** Reviewed based on a publishers galley received through NetGalley ***
Read my complete review at: http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2014/08/bittersweet-novel.html
*** Reviewed based on a publishers galley received through NetGalley ***
Good story about 4 sisters (2 sets of twins) who go thru nursing program in 1920's Australia, and then marry or not, and experience the Depression. Feels like there could be a sequel.
