Colleen McCullough: The Ladies of Missalonghi

A short farewell to Colleen
This short novel by Colleen McCullough was published as an e-book few days ago but I discovered that was first published in 1987. Nevertheless it was a delightful way to say a short goodbye to Colleen, who passed away on 29 January 2015, for the enjoyment that I got from many of her books.

Just before WWI the town of Byron in the Blue Mountains outside Sydney was dominated by the male line of the Hurlingford family and had been so for many generations. Wealth only passed to the male line and with most females in the family living on their own existing in dreary poverty. Missalonghi (Missy) Wright is single, over thirty and lives with her widowed mother and crippled aunt. Her life is boring and meaningless, the only joy being her love of books, especially romantic novels, and her dream of being able to afford to dress in bright colours instead of practical everyday brown.

One day a stranger, John Smith, comes to town and disturbs the Hurlingford males because he has bought a local valley that they didn't know was available (they would have owned it themselves if they had known). John Smith brings hope and change into Missy's life that has an unexpected and huge impact on the Hurlingford's of Byron.

This is a charming, amusing and short novel with an ending spiced with divine intervention that seemed appropriate for the last novel I read from such a superb author. Colleen McCullough was a feisty, independent-minded, internationally acclaimed author of many marvellous books (including the classic Thornbirds saga and her brilliantly researched Masters of Rome series). She will be sadly missed.

This e-book contains promotional first chapters of Colleen's last novel, BITTERSWEET about the four Latimer sisters which I read and enjoyed 16 months ago. In my review I said that the ending left scope for visiting the lives of the sisters later on in their lives. Sadly that is not to be.

Colleen McCullough: Bittersweet

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Enjoyable family saga
The four Latimer sisters had always been close even though they were 2 sets of twins from different mothers. Edda and Grace lost their mother in childbirth and after a very short time their father, Rector of St Mark's Church of England, Corunda, NSW, married his (unpleasant and dominating) housekeeper, Maude and within 2 years there was another set of twins, Tufts and Kitty in the household. At the beginning of the book the four sisters are about to set out independently in life for the first time and become the first registered nurse trainees at the local hospital.

While they cherish their independent lives, at first things are pretty harsh with a very strict Matron and a wealthy hospital run by a skinflint Superintendent. While they survive by helping one another, each girl has their own battles to fight which quickly sorts out the differences between the girls and their ambitions. Things change when Dr. Charles Burdum, a very rich English relation of one of the district's wealthiest graziers, takes over as Superintendent and shakes up the hospital and its staff. After an upper class English upbringing, Charles' adjustment to life in Australia as 'Charlie the Pommy' is very amusing.

Each sister makes their own very different decisions about their future careers and partners. Kitty, who has been spoiled and pampered by her mother, is the first one to meet Charles on a train from Melbourne when he invades the privacy of her railway compartment. Despite her first greeting - "Piss off you presumptuous little twerp" - Charles believes that someone with Kitty's beauty would make him a perfect wife.

The story covers the start of the Great Depression that affects everyone in different ways and to different degrees. While each of the sisters face their own challenges and sufferings, the bond between them never falters. They conclude that "Nothing is so sweet that there's no tinge of bitter in it."

It has been a while since I have read any books by prolific writer Colleen McCullough, mainly because I was distracted by her scholarly but IMHO difficult and uninspiring "Masters of Rome" series. McCullough is still a great storyteller, especially of family sagas.  While I found the character of Charles a bit over the top and unbelievable, overall I enjoyed and can recommend "Bittersweet". It is not clear if there will be a sequel but the ending seemed to leave scope for visiting the lives of the sisters later on in their lives.

Colleen McCullough: The Thornbirds

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An Australian Classic for my bookshelf
Thanks to a Harper Collins price reduction I bought a copy of The Thorn Birds for my Kindle Classics bookshelf. I read it when it was released in the late 1970's and was impressed with the quality of McCullough's work and her outstanding prose. I am an Aussie and she described the local background and characters so accurately and passionately. The story is a description of the attitudes at that time to relationships and to the Catholic Church - some have changed and others haven't. I look forward to reading it again.

It is now part of my small collection of outstanding books that are now on my modern classics Kindle bookshelf.  It will join Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts, The Winds of War by Herman Wouk, God is an Englishman by R F Delderfield, Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth and a few others. I also added the full WWII memoirs by Winston Churchill when they were $1.99 each as Kindle Daily Deals (what a bargain for an outstanding and detailed and brilliantly written personal account of WWII from Churchill's perspective). Some day soon I will add a couple of Michener's but I am waiting for Centennial to be released on Kindle.

As a postscript let me say that I will not be viewing the mini-series again which starred Richard Chamberlain, Rachel Ward and Bryan Brown. While the acting was OK, as an Aussie I was appalled that it was filmed in California (in Lone Ranger country which doesn't look anything like the outback) and in Kawaii. I can still recall how I was stunned that the producers did not bother to use right hand drive cars.