Bittersweet
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4.1 • 181 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
From the author of The Thorn Birds comes this epic saga of love, betrayal, ambition and redemption in 1920s and '30s Australia.
Do bonds between sisters ever break? Edda, Grace, tufts and Kitty didn't think so. the four Latimer sisters, famous throughout New South Wales for their beauty, wit and ambition, have always been close; always happy. But then they left home to train as nurses, swapping the feather beds of their father's townhouse for the spartan bunks of hospital accommodation. And now, as the Depression casts its shadow across Australia, they are bound by their own secret desires as the world changes around them. Will they find the independence they crave? Or is life - like love - always bittersweet?
'As clever, compelling and as down-to-earth as its four heroines.' Australian Women's Weekly
'McCullough's richly drawn characters grab hold of the heartstrings from the beginning of their journey through early 20th-century Australia, and prove that, even when choices are not in wide supply, happiness is attainable - even if, at times, it is bittersweet.' Publishers Weekly
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
This sweeping tale of two sets of twins who share the same father is set in a country town against the tumultuous backdrop of Australia in the ’20s. It’s hard not to fall in love with these strongly drawn women, each fighting for her own dream—and seeking the elusive balance between personal and professional fulfilment.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this sweeping historical saga, McCullough (The Thorn Birds) explores the lives and loves of four sisters in 1920s Australia. Edda and Grace are twins, as are Heather (dubbed Tufts) and Katherine, (called Kitty). Since career options for women are sparse, the sisters enter nursing school, encouraged by their father, the Reverend Thomas Latimer. The four leave their home in the small New South Wales town of Corunda, each with different goals: Grace wants to be a wife and mother; Tufts wants independence, Kitty wants to be known for more than her beauty, and Edda longs to be a doctor. Each finds love, of a sort, and tragedy is not in short supply the Great Depression hits; one sister's husband is lost; another's is cast off; miscarriages occur. As each sister finds her path in life, though, one thing remains clear: family means everything to these women. No matter what befalls them, they remain fiercely loyal to each other. McCullough's richly drawn characters grab hold of the heartstrings from the beginning of their journey through early-20th-century Australia, and prove that, even when choices are not in wide supply, happiness is attainable even if, at times, it is bittersweet.
Customer Reviews
Bittersweet
Relatively easy to read. Author's sentence construction was unusual at times and required careful reading. Body was engaging but ending was an anticlimax.
Bittersweet
A great holiday read.
Bittersweet
I have just finished this book for our book club. An easy read, but struggled keeping characters separated in my mind. Colleen's sentence construction on a couple of occasions had me wondering whether she was writing for the time or is this a peculiarity of hers. Could not have predicted the outcome of each life except Kitty.