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Angel Puss
I wouldn′t walk on coals of fire for any man, but Flo? She′s my angel puss. My child.
It′s 1960, and twenty-one-year-old Harriet ignores her father′s warning that ′only fools, Bohemians and tarts live at Kings Cross′ and moves into Mrs Delvecchio Schwartz′s rooming house. There she learns about men, love, and tarot cards.
But it is mute four-year-old Flo who captures Harriet′s heart, and who teaches her that protecting those you care for most can be hardest of all.
Angel Puss vividly evokes the dynamism and passions of a Kings Cross that has gone. It is also the story of women′s love for children, and the sacrifices a woman will make to protect and nurture a beloved child.
It′s 1960, and twenty-one-year-old Harriet ignores her father′s warning that ′only fools, Bohemians and tarts live at Kings Cross′ and moves into Mrs Delvecchio Schwartz′s rooming house. There she learns about men, love, and tarot cards.
But it is mute four-year-old Flo who captures Harriet′s heart, and who teaches her that protecting those you care for most can be hardest of all.
Angel Puss vividly evokes the dynamism and passions of a Kings Cross that has gone. It is also the story of women′s love for children, and the sacrifices a woman will make to protect and nurture a beloved child.
363 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2004
547 people are currently reading
949 people want to read
About the author
Colleen McCullough
129 books3,142 followersColleen Margaretta McCullough was an Australian author known for her novels, her most well-known being The Thorn Birds and Tim.
Raised by her mother in Wellington and then Sydney, McCullough began writing stories at age 5. She flourished at Catholic schools and earned a physiology degree from the University of New South Wales in 1963. Planning become a doctor, she found that she had a violent allergy to hospital soap and turned instead to neurophysiology – the study of the nervous system's functions. She found jobs first in London and then at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.
After her beloved younger brother Carl died in 1965 at age 25 while rescuing two drowning women in the waters off Crete, a shattered McCullough quit writing. She finally returned to her craft in 1974 with Tim, a critically acclaimed novel about the romance between a female executive and a younger, mentally disabled gardener. As always, the author proved her toughest critic: "Actually," she said, "it was an icky book, saccharine sweet."
A year later, while on a paltry $10,000 annual salary as a Yale researcher, McCullough – just "Col" to her friends – began work on the sprawling The Thorn Birds, about the lives and loves of three generations of an Australian family. Many of its details were drawn from her mother's family's experience as migrant workers, and one character, Dane, was based on brother Carl.
Though some reviews were scathing, millions of readers worldwide got caught up in her tales of doomed love and other natural calamities. The paperback rights sold for an astonishing $1.9 million.
In all, McCullough wrote 11 novels.
Source: http://www.people.com/article/colleen...
Raised by her mother in Wellington and then Sydney, McCullough began writing stories at age 5. She flourished at Catholic schools and earned a physiology degree from the University of New South Wales in 1963. Planning become a doctor, she found that she had a violent allergy to hospital soap and turned instead to neurophysiology – the study of the nervous system's functions. She found jobs first in London and then at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.
After her beloved younger brother Carl died in 1965 at age 25 while rescuing two drowning women in the waters off Crete, a shattered McCullough quit writing. She finally returned to her craft in 1974 with Tim, a critically acclaimed novel about the romance between a female executive and a younger, mentally disabled gardener. As always, the author proved her toughest critic: "Actually," she said, "it was an icky book, saccharine sweet."
A year later, while on a paltry $10,000 annual salary as a Yale researcher, McCullough – just "Col" to her friends – began work on the sprawling The Thorn Birds, about the lives and loves of three generations of an Australian family. Many of its details were drawn from her mother's family's experience as migrant workers, and one character, Dane, was based on brother Carl.
Though some reviews were scathing, millions of readers worldwide got caught up in her tales of doomed love and other natural calamities. The paperback rights sold for an astonishing $1.9 million.
In all, McCullough wrote 11 novels.
Source: http://www.people.com/article/colleen...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 168 reviews
May 21, 2015
This story is set in the 1960's in Sydney. Harriet Purcell has started working as an X-ray technician at the Royal Queens Hospital in Sydney.
Although Harriet has been warned by her father about what goes on in the Kings Cross district, Harriet still decides to move into Mrs Delvecchio Schwartz's rooming house. Harriet quickly learns that Mrs Delvecchio Schwartz not only runs a rooming house, but also does other things on the side for more income, such as reading tarot cards and staring into her crystal ball. Whilst renting a room from Mrs Delvecchio Schwartz, Harriet will discover a world that she never knew existed.
A wonderful and intriguing story full of colorful and fascinating characters. Aussie Author Colleen McCullough gives us an insight on what went on during the era of the 1960's in and around the Kings Cross area. An enjoyable tale about love, secrets and relationships. Highly recommended.
Although Harriet has been warned by her father about what goes on in the Kings Cross district, Harriet still decides to move into Mrs Delvecchio Schwartz's rooming house. Harriet quickly learns that Mrs Delvecchio Schwartz not only runs a rooming house, but also does other things on the side for more income, such as reading tarot cards and staring into her crystal ball. Whilst renting a room from Mrs Delvecchio Schwartz, Harriet will discover a world that she never knew existed.
A wonderful and intriguing story full of colorful and fascinating characters. Aussie Author Colleen McCullough gives us an insight on what went on during the era of the 1960's in and around the Kings Cross area. An enjoyable tale about love, secrets and relationships. Highly recommended.
April 28, 2015
This was a very disappointing read for me because I expected so much more, both from the ability of the author herself and also from the many good reviews it has had. However it did nothing for me. I found the main character, Harriet, obnoxious, I did not care for the liberal and unnecessary use of swear words and there was too much silly talk about sex. I could not understand how we could possibly be expected to believe that every good looking man who came along fell in love with horrible Harriet on sight. And then carried on loving her when she treated them shockingly. Then the ridiculous ending finished it off for me. Apologies to everyone who loved it! I tried and failed.
March 8, 2015
Set in the 1960s this tells the story of Harriet Purcell and how she moved away from her conventional family and repressive boyfriend and found love and independence in Kings Cross. Set at a time when women were expected to marry and settle down, giving up their jobs if they had one, Harriet trains to become an X-ray technician at a city hospital and earns enough to rent a small apartment in Kings Cross. She discovers new food, new people and new experiences and gets to meet whores, lesbians, policemen and the eclectic mixture of tennants at her boarding house. Her landlady, Mrs Delvecchio Schwartz is indeed a 'character', with her tarot cards and crystal ball and down to Earth wit and wisdom. She is convinced that Harriet is essential to the future of the boarding house.
This is a wonderful story, full of humour, coloured by the sights and atmosphere of the Cross, where the author herself lived in the 1960s.
This is a wonderful story, full of humour, coloured by the sights and atmosphere of the Cross, where the author herself lived in the 1960s.
December 1, 2021
I've read a few books by Colleen McCullough before and got a found memory of her works most of the time. This one did definitely not disappoint and was an very compelling read. However I'm still confused of the title. If it means what it sounds like or if it's a phrase I don't know about.
February 20, 2015
What a wonderful book! I have just turned the last page and am already pining for more.
First published in 2004, this book is cleverly written as a sort of diary...or rather a story fashioned through the entries in a diary beginning on January 1st 1960 and continuing with regular entries until May 1961.
It tells the story of 21 year old Harriett Purcell who, after qualifying as an X-Ray technician and securing a good job position at a Sydney Hospital earning the "coveted" male wage rate...which is decidedly higher than the woman's wage rate at the time and very hard won...has decided to leave her overpopulated and inhibiting family home to share a house in Sydney's Kings Cross with a work colleague and an assortment of various other colorful characters who are the current tenants.
Much to the shock and dismay of her parents, and particularly her father who warns her against all the "types" who reside at Kings Cross and the potential threats therein, Harriett insists on breaking her mould and moves in to the aforementioned establishment owned and presided over by the very prominent Mrs Delvecchio Schwartz...
...And therein begins a wonderful and intriguing story of relationships, hardships, mysteries, secrets, diverse personalities and occupations, in all their intricacies....but most of all about love and the price of love, in all of its myriad forms.
Pay attention to detail and take nothing for granted in this story, as nothing is for nothing! It is all at once amusing, worrying, absurd and poignant.
The story gives a very good insight into what life was like in 1960's Sydney...especially for women and especially for women in the workforce, but more particularly the life and pulse of the people in and the place known (then and now) as Kings Cross.
Being born and bred in Sydney, I can easily imagine a scenario such as this one, playing out at that point in time and in that context, without any poetic license!
This is a wonderful story and very, very well researched, right down to the Astrological chart for Harriet with its correct planetary placements and interpretations, as well as the Tarot Cards and their relevant meanings in placement.
In my humble opinion, Colleen McCullough has done a brilliant job in pulling off this wonderfully "out there" story!
It's probably not for everybody, but certainly for those with an open mind and heart who are tolerant of all types of people and their desire for harmony.
I loved this book, it has earned a place on my favorites shelf as well as a highly recommended 4.5*s.
April 1, 2015
I read Colleen McCullough's Angel as part of a reading challenge, after giving up temporarily on her ponderous First Man in Rome. The instant change of pace to a rollicking read meant I finished this book in a few days; work commitments got in the way of it being any quicker. If I were reading a paper version, I'd have to call it a page turner.
The mood was somber in places, laugh out loud funny in others. It was the Aussie slang that made it most fun to read. There's nothing quite like Australian slang. 1960's Australian slang seems even better.
Harriet Purcell moves out of home to a shared house in Kings Cross and takes on new professional responsibilities in Queens hospital X-ray department. In her working life, she has to contend with hospital politics while, in the background, McCullough touches on the cultural friction of 1960's changes in Australia. Social inequality, sexism, the very recent availability of The Pill, gay and lesbian rights, even new 'foreign' foods. These were the bits I found most interesting.
In Harriet's personal life, she develops an unusual fascination with her landlady's daughter. This part of the book made the least sense to me. Getting the child to talk became a strange obsession, feeding her, almost adopting her it seemed, although her mother was still alive. But it did allow for crazy antics and adventures. So I was happy to go with the flow.
A Place to Call Home has started screening on television, set slightly earlier in post-WWII. Located in a country town rather than inner-city Sydney in these early episodes it feels dry and pompous by comparison. No 'angry frog in a sock' in sight. We don't need more Australian dramas that show watering holes or the beauty of the sunset over the valley's and hills. I'd love to see a series set in the world of McCullough's Angel, it would be infinitely more interesting.
The mood was somber in places, laugh out loud funny in others. It was the Aussie slang that made it most fun to read. There's nothing quite like Australian slang. 1960's Australian slang seems even better.
Harriet Purcell moves out of home to a shared house in Kings Cross and takes on new professional responsibilities in Queens hospital X-ray department. In her working life, she has to contend with hospital politics while, in the background, McCullough touches on the cultural friction of 1960's changes in Australia. Social inequality, sexism, the very recent availability of The Pill, gay and lesbian rights, even new 'foreign' foods. These were the bits I found most interesting.
In Harriet's personal life, she develops an unusual fascination with her landlady's daughter. This part of the book made the least sense to me. Getting the child to talk became a strange obsession, feeding her, almost adopting her it seemed, although her mother was still alive. But it did allow for crazy antics and adventures. So I was happy to go with the flow.
A Place to Call Home has started screening on television, set slightly earlier in post-WWII. Located in a country town rather than inner-city Sydney in these early episodes it feels dry and pompous by comparison. No 'angry frog in a sock' in sight. We don't need more Australian dramas that show watering holes or the beauty of the sunset over the valley's and hills. I'd love to see a series set in the world of McCullough's Angel, it would be infinitely more interesting.
November 27, 2021
Неймовірна атмосфера повоєнного Сіднею так описана може бути лиш Колін Маккалоу. Чиста і світла історія про пошук себе, бажання свободи та любов.
"Янголятко" Колін Маккалоу @ksd_bookclub
Гаррієт Перселл - мрійлива 21-річна дівчина зі старомодним іменем та неймовірним бажанням жити по-справжньому. Нова робота в лікарні "Квінс" дає їй шанс змінити життя на 180°. Нова робота, нові знайомі, нове житло, нове кохання та маленьке янголятко Фло дадуть Гаррієт нове життя.
Я і забула, що читала цю книгу ще років 8-10 тому. Я думала, що вона не потрапила під мій погляд як і "Ті, що співають у терні". А все банально просто: анотація ніяк не відкликалась в моїй пам'яті, такого не читала. От тільки анотація дуже далека від самої книги. Ні, вона вірна, але сильно недоречна. Десь на 50-ій сторінці все стало на свої місця.
Книга чудова. У Колін Маккалоу є одна риса, якою я щоразу захоплююсь - її герої справжні. Історії, які вона розповідає вже колись з кимось сталися (не в деталях, а загалом), та і стаються.
"Янголятко" - це легкий подув вітру, який знесе всі переживання і тружнощі. Щира історія життя, написана у формі щоденника дівчини, яка просто хотіла бути щасливою.
"Янголятко" Колін Маккалоу @ksd_bookclub
Гаррієт Перселл - мрійлива 21-річна дівчина зі старомодним іменем та неймовірним бажанням жити по-справжньому. Нова робота в лікарні "Квінс" дає їй шанс змінити життя на 180°. Нова робота, нові знайомі, нове житло, нове кохання та маленьке янголятко Фло дадуть Гаррієт нове життя.
Я і забула, що читала цю книгу ще років 8-10 тому. Я думала, що вона не потрапила під мій погляд як і "Ті, що співають у терні". А все банально просто: анотація ніяк не відкликалась в моїй пам'яті, такого не читала. От тільки анотація дуже далека від самої книги. Ні, вона вірна, але сильно недоречна. Десь на 50-ій сторінці все стало на свої місця.
Книга чудова. У Колін Маккалоу є одна риса, якою я щоразу захоплююсь - її герої справжні. Історії, які вона розповідає вже колись з кимось сталися (не в деталях, а загалом), та і стаються.
"Янголятко" - це легкий подув вітру, який знесе всі переживання і тружнощі. Щира історія життя, написана у формі щоденника дівчини, яка просто хотіла бути щасливою.
May 24, 2015
I wanted to like this, but it always felt like something just didn’t gel in the story.
Harriet Purcell works at a hospital in Sydney as an X-ray technician and is in her early - mid-20s (I think), but from the beginning she seemed much more immature than I would have expected - more like an 18 year old (if not younger) at times. This did improve as the story developed, but then she became tedious - either harping on about the tarot cards that her landlady reads or sex (either her lack of it or how wonderful it is with this, that or the other man).
I was listening to this as an audiobook, so maybe some of the things that annoyed me were heightened as a result of this. The whole story is told from Harriet’s perspective as entries in a journal she is writining and one thing that continually annoyed me was the way she’d say “Ooh, aah!!” which really seems a strange thing to write in a journal - I might say this (although not often even then), but I’d never use it if I was writing.
I was still drawn into the story enough to want to keep listening to find out what happened, but the whole thing seemed to become more tiresome toward the end - so much so that I lost track of some things at the end, and I can’t even be bothered going back to the last 30 minutes to sort out exactly what happened.
It was a little better than just OK, but I can’t really say that it was a good read. A shame, because I thoroughly enjoyed The Thorn Birds and The Independence of Miss Mary Bennet. 2.5 stars.
Harriet Purcell works at a hospital in Sydney as an X-ray technician and is in her early - mid-20s (I think), but from the beginning she seemed much more immature than I would have expected - more like an 18 year old (if not younger) at times. This did improve as the story developed, but then she became tedious - either harping on about the tarot cards that her landlady reads or sex (either her lack of it or how wonderful it is with this, that or the other man).
I was listening to this as an audiobook, so maybe some of the things that annoyed me were heightened as a result of this. The whole story is told from Harriet’s perspective as entries in a journal she is writining and one thing that continually annoyed me was the way she’d say “Ooh, aah!!” which really seems a strange thing to write in a journal - I might say this (although not often even then), but I’d never use it if I was writing.
I was still drawn into the story enough to want to keep listening to find out what happened, but the whole thing seemed to become more tiresome toward the end - so much so that I lost track of some things at the end, and I can’t even be bothered going back to the last 30 minutes to sort out exactly what happened.
It was a little better than just OK, but I can’t really say that it was a good read. A shame, because I thoroughly enjoyed The Thorn Birds and The Independence of Miss Mary Bennet. 2.5 stars.
June 8, 2013
Anos 60. Harriet tem 21 anos e é uma jovem decidida e dona do seu nariz, mas infelizmente não tem a melhor das famílias... A sua família é machista e preconceituosa e a jovem sente que precisa de conviver com outras pessoas, fazer novas coisas, enfim... viver!
Na faculdade Harriet conhece entretanto uma rapariga com a qual faz amizade - Pappy e esta "convida-a" para ir viver consigo para uma casa num dos bairros mal afamados de Sidney, a apelidada "Casa dos Anjos" pelas pessoas que nela habitam. Harriet aceita e é neste contexto que vai conhecer a Mrs. Delvecchio Schwartz, a dona da casa, uma mulher original e com uma personalidade extremamente peculiar que acredita em signos e em cartas do tarot e de quem se irá tornar uma grande amiga.
Harriet conhece também os outros inquilinos, que vão desde um pintor sem quaisquer recursos e um casal de lésbicas, a um homem com uma presença extremamente assustadora. No entanto a melhor recompensa que poderia receber será conhecer Flo, a filha da sra. Schwartz, que é muda (embora a mãe passe a vida a dizer que não é) e que é a coisa mais adorável que já passou pelos olhos e o coração de Harriet!!
Durante um ano, Harriet vai descobrir o amor, o sexo e a liberdade, mas quando uma imensa tragédia se abater sobre a casa, Harriet terá de mostrar de que fibra é feita e fazer o possível (ou o impossível) para salvar o seu "anjinho" (como chama Flo) de um destino por demais doloroso!!
"A Casa dos Anjos" é um livro, na minha opinião extremamente curioso. Adorei as personagens, na sua maioria excêntricas, e sempre com algo peculiar para revelar, mas a que mais amei foi mesmo a Flo. Pela forma como é descrita senti-a como um docinho de criança e o meu coração palpitou de tanta ternura por uma personagem de um livro!
Este é um livro que pela sua excentricidade não aconselho a todas as pessoas, no entanto, penso que por esse mesmo motivo será bem-vindo a pessoas de mente aberta e com um coração sensível pelo drama que inspira!!!
Gostei imenso :)
Na faculdade Harriet conhece entretanto uma rapariga com a qual faz amizade - Pappy e esta "convida-a" para ir viver consigo para uma casa num dos bairros mal afamados de Sidney, a apelidada "Casa dos Anjos" pelas pessoas que nela habitam. Harriet aceita e é neste contexto que vai conhecer a Mrs. Delvecchio Schwartz, a dona da casa, uma mulher original e com uma personalidade extremamente peculiar que acredita em signos e em cartas do tarot e de quem se irá tornar uma grande amiga.
Harriet conhece também os outros inquilinos, que vão desde um pintor sem quaisquer recursos e um casal de lésbicas, a um homem com uma presença extremamente assustadora. No entanto a melhor recompensa que poderia receber será conhecer Flo, a filha da sra. Schwartz, que é muda (embora a mãe passe a vida a dizer que não é) e que é a coisa mais adorável que já passou pelos olhos e o coração de Harriet!!
Durante um ano, Harriet vai descobrir o amor, o sexo e a liberdade, mas quando uma imensa tragédia se abater sobre a casa, Harriet terá de mostrar de que fibra é feita e fazer o possível (ou o impossível) para salvar o seu "anjinho" (como chama Flo) de um destino por demais doloroso!!
"A Casa dos Anjos" é um livro, na minha opinião extremamente curioso. Adorei as personagens, na sua maioria excêntricas, e sempre com algo peculiar para revelar, mas a que mais amei foi mesmo a Flo. Pela forma como é descrita senti-a como um docinho de criança e o meu coração palpitou de tanta ternura por uma personagem de um livro!
Este é um livro que pela sua excentricidade não aconselho a todas as pessoas, no entanto, penso que por esse mesmo motivo será bem-vindo a pessoas de mente aberta e com um coração sensível pelo drama que inspira!!!
Gostei imenso :)
March 25, 2015
An interesting story based on the diary entries of a young 22 year old girl who moves into a boarding house full of very colourful characters in Sydney's Kings Cross during the early 1960's.
Really enjoyed the descriptions of the life & times in 1960's Sydney, especially Kings Cross & all its characters, but thought the ending was a bit weird and got really over the "ooohhh aaahh" & HaHaHas by the end. Maybe listening via audio made that more annoying.
Really enjoyed the descriptions of the life & times in 1960's Sydney, especially Kings Cross & all its characters, but thought the ending was a bit weird and got really over the "ooohhh aaahh" & HaHaHas by the end. Maybe listening via audio made that more annoying.
July 26, 2023
Setting: Sydney, NSW, Australia; 1 January 1960-3 June 1961.
Harriet Purcell lives with her parents and has a staunch Catholic boyfriend who refuses to give her anything more than a chaste kiss until they are married. She is fed up with him, indeed her first words (and those of the book) are 'How on earth can I get rid of David?'
Landing herself a job as a senior technician in the X-ray department of the Royal Queens Hospital in Sydney ('the biggest hospital in the Southern Hemisphere'), she soon finds herself tempted to 'spread her wings' even more by moving out of her parents' home. Her nurse-aide Papele (Pappy) tells her that there is an apartment in the building she lives in - and Harriet is soon introduced to Mrs Delvecchio Schwartz, who offers her the apartment at less than she is paying her parents for board. The only problem is convincing her parents that it is going to be okay as the house is in the 'lively' suburb of King's Cross, bordered on each side by an expensive brothel!
The cast of characters that Harriet becomes involved with following her move is legendary - transvestites, hookers, artists - and Mrs Delvecchio Schwartz is herself an astrologer, although she claims all her abilities as a medium come from her four-year-old daughter, Flo. Harriet is immediately enchanted with Flo, and Flo's feelings appear the same even though she never speaks.
Harriet feels totally liberated in her new accommodation and has some adventures, particularly with men, until tragedy strikes the house and Harriet feels that she must protect Flo at all costs....
This is yet another great read from the author, possibly one of the best I have read by her - really loved the feisty character of Harriet as she developed greatly in a little over a year! - 9/10
Harriet Purcell lives with her parents and has a staunch Catholic boyfriend who refuses to give her anything more than a chaste kiss until they are married. She is fed up with him, indeed her first words (and those of the book) are 'How on earth can I get rid of David?'
Landing herself a job as a senior technician in the X-ray department of the Royal Queens Hospital in Sydney ('the biggest hospital in the Southern Hemisphere'), she soon finds herself tempted to 'spread her wings' even more by moving out of her parents' home. Her nurse-aide Papele (Pappy) tells her that there is an apartment in the building she lives in - and Harriet is soon introduced to Mrs Delvecchio Schwartz, who offers her the apartment at less than she is paying her parents for board. The only problem is convincing her parents that it is going to be okay as the house is in the 'lively' suburb of King's Cross, bordered on each side by an expensive brothel!
The cast of characters that Harriet becomes involved with following her move is legendary - transvestites, hookers, artists - and Mrs Delvecchio Schwartz is herself an astrologer, although she claims all her abilities as a medium come from her four-year-old daughter, Flo. Harriet is immediately enchanted with Flo, and Flo's feelings appear the same even though she never speaks.
Harriet feels totally liberated in her new accommodation and has some adventures, particularly with men, until tragedy strikes the house and Harriet feels that she must protect Flo at all costs....
This is yet another great read from the author, possibly one of the best I have read by her - really loved the feisty character of Harriet as she developed greatly in a little over a year! - 9/10
April 30, 2009
I don't know what I was expecting to read, but this wasn't it. Don't get me wrong: I LIKED it, I was just surprised. I was expecting something more realistic, more -- grown-up, I suppose. Instead I got a narrator who says "oooooo-aa!" every couple of pages, a psychic/telepathic child, and a completely mad cast of characters. I liked Jim and Bob, I thought it was obvious who Toby fancied right from the start, and Pappy must be riddled with STDs. Chris and Sister Cas hooking up with the Greek New Australians was so cute! ("Just call me cupid.") Mrs Delvecchio Schwartz was, uh, quite a lady. I was simultaneously horrified and amused by her.
I don't like it when heroines in historical fiction are feisty and progessive without any REASON to be. She wants to wear trousers and believes in equality? Okay, but give me a reason WHY. Harriet, the narrator of this book, was progressive, but it was believable. She starts out frustrated that her boyfriend won't even kiss her with his mouth open, and by the end of the book she's behaving in a way that would still be considered loose and shocking by today's standards. (The bad influence of her new flatmates and neighbours!) It's bold of an author to do that. I could have done without Harriet's, um, medical comparisons, but I liked her voice and her strength and her humour. Finally, I thought that there was the right balance of explanation and mystery at the end.
(It's pretty poor for a book to misspell a main character's name four times in the blurb, though.)
I don't like it when heroines in historical fiction are feisty and progessive without any REASON to be. She wants to wear trousers and believes in equality? Okay, but give me a reason WHY. Harriet, the narrator of this book, was progressive, but it was believable. She starts out frustrated that her boyfriend won't even kiss her with his mouth open, and by the end of the book she's behaving in a way that would still be considered loose and shocking by today's standards. (The bad influence of her new flatmates and neighbours!) It's bold of an author to do that. I could have done without Harriet's, um, medical comparisons, but I liked her voice and her strength and her humour. Finally, I thought that there was the right balance of explanation and mystery at the end.
(It's pretty poor for a book to misspell a main character's name four times in the blurb, though.)
October 21, 2014
Absolutely loved it...a real 'feel good' book! Loved all the characters, especially Harriot Pursell, Mrs Delvecio Schwartz and of course, Flo! Well worth a read.
March 3, 2018
Probabilmente il fatto che sia stato scritto sotto forma di diario mi ha coinvolta maggiormente nella storia. Uno spaccato australiano degli anni 60 con temi delicati quali il razzismo, il tabù dell’omosessualità, il soprannaturale, la disparità di genere (in alcuni lavori le donne dovevano licenziarsi quando si sposavano oppure l’esistenza delle cosiddette retribuzioni maschili). Il tutto in un romanzo avvincente e a tratti inquietante, ma che però non è decollato del tutto. Il finale piacevole ma senza colpi di scena.
June 19, 2018
L'autrice, per lo più nota per "Uccelli di rovo" che a suo tempo diede scandalo e di cui venne realizzata anche una trasposizione televisiva, indubbiamente sa scrivere: sceglie la forma di diario per meglio calare il lettore nelle vicende degli anni Sessanta, dando una decisa connotazione temporale e ponendo al contempo le basi per un contatto intimo tra lettore e protagonista.
Tratta argomenti di chiaro impatto sociale, dall'omosessualità alla libertà sessuale della donna, e gioca intelligentemente sulla dicotomia tra scienza - la protagonista è radiologa con uno stipendio da maschi - e mistero, con tutto il proprio corollario di visioni, tarocchi, sfere di cristallo e ciarlatanerie assortite.
Personaggi vari, particolari e ben costruiti, descritti tanto minuziosamente che se ne potrebbe tratteggiare un ritratto e che accompagnano il lettore fino a quello che, probabilmente, avrebbe voluto essere un finale di grande effetto, ma che ho trovato banale e prevedibile.
Due stelle per la trama, quattro per lo stile narrativo, ben reso anche dalla traduzione: in medio stat virtus, sicché tre stelline.
Tratta argomenti di chiaro impatto sociale, dall'omosessualità alla libertà sessuale della donna, e gioca intelligentemente sulla dicotomia tra scienza - la protagonista è radiologa con uno stipendio da maschi - e mistero, con tutto il proprio corollario di visioni, tarocchi, sfere di cristallo e ciarlatanerie assortite.
Personaggi vari, particolari e ben costruiti, descritti tanto minuziosamente che se ne potrebbe tratteggiare un ritratto e che accompagnano il lettore fino a quello che, probabilmente, avrebbe voluto essere un finale di grande effetto, ma che ho trovato banale e prevedibile.
Due stelle per la trama, quattro per lo stile narrativo, ben reso anche dalla traduzione: in medio stat virtus, sicché tre stelline.
December 5, 2010
Absolutely loved this book. It was quirky and heart-warming, amazingly honest and a wonderful description of a culture and a lifestyle I know next to nothing about.
Found this inspiring and definitely very good, and will be recommending it for sure!
Found this inspiring and definitely very good, and will be recommending it for sure!
September 8, 2025
I don't know why, but this novel was a slow-go read for me. It's not long, but it's not particularly compelling. If Colleen McCullough had not written the 1977 blockbuster novel "The Thorn Birds," then I wonder if "Angel" would ever have been published.
This is the story of Harriet Purcell, told in diary form January 1, 1960 to June 3, 1961. Having received her certification to be an X-ray technician, Harriet wants to move out of her very crowded family home in Sydney, Australia so she jumps at an opportunity to rent an affordable, albeit very small, apartment in a somewhat checkered boarding house in King's Cross. The Cross, at it is better known, is home to a rough crowd. Next door are two brothels, and two of the rooms in the house in which Harriet is living are occupied by prostitutes. But she is on her own! And that's worth it.
The landlady is Mrs. Delvecchio Schwartz, an older woman who is the unlikely mother of a four-year-old girl named Flo, a mute who is otherworldly. Harriet meets Flo and the two fall in love with Harriet calling Flo her "angel." Mrs. Delvecchio Schwartz supplements her rental income by telling fortunes with a crystal ball and reading tarot cards.
The novel, which is a series of Harriet's diary entries, focuses on Harriet's life—having sex for the first time, embarking on an affair with a married doctor, matchmaking her friends—as well as the very colorful cast of characters who live in the house. In addition to the prostitutes, there are two lesbians (a real shocker for 1960), an artist, a classical musician, and a scary, evil stalker who hates Harriet.
There is a violent twist in the plot that changes life for everyone, but almost everything that happens is somewhat predictable.
This is the story of Harriet Purcell, told in diary form January 1, 1960 to June 3, 1961. Having received her certification to be an X-ray technician, Harriet wants to move out of her very crowded family home in Sydney, Australia so she jumps at an opportunity to rent an affordable, albeit very small, apartment in a somewhat checkered boarding house in King's Cross. The Cross, at it is better known, is home to a rough crowd. Next door are two brothels, and two of the rooms in the house in which Harriet is living are occupied by prostitutes. But she is on her own! And that's worth it.
The landlady is Mrs. Delvecchio Schwartz, an older woman who is the unlikely mother of a four-year-old girl named Flo, a mute who is otherworldly. Harriet meets Flo and the two fall in love with Harriet calling Flo her "angel." Mrs. Delvecchio Schwartz supplements her rental income by telling fortunes with a crystal ball and reading tarot cards.
The novel, which is a series of Harriet's diary entries, focuses on Harriet's life—having sex for the first time, embarking on an affair with a married doctor, matchmaking her friends—as well as the very colorful cast of characters who live in the house. In addition to the prostitutes, there are two lesbians (a real shocker for 1960), an artist, a classical musician, and a scary, evil stalker who hates Harriet.
There is a violent twist in the plot that changes life for everyone, but almost everything that happens is somewhat predictable.
April 10, 2016
Mentre leggevo commentavo che questo romanzo è praticamente il prodotto del love child fra Fabio Volo e Sveva Casati Modignani, e giunta alla fine di queste interminabili, noiosissime 294 pagine resto ancora di quell'opinione. D'altronde, le caratteristiche principali di entrambi ci sono tutte. Da Volo, la McCullough ha preso il parlare per frasi fatte e la superficialità nella costruzione dei personaggi, che rifuggono urlando istericamente di fronte a qualsiasi idea di originalità (e questo malgrado il romanzo si fregi di essere pieno di personaggi "pittoreschi", tutti con qualche caratteristica strana inserita al solo scopo di scioccare il lettore e fargli esclamare "oh, quanta gente bizzarra!", senza che queste bizzarre caratteristiche in realtà influiscano in alcun modo né sulla caratterizzazione dei personaggi stessi né, in larga misura, sulla trama), oltre a una straordinaria quanto incomprensibile fissazione per la cacca e la pipì, mentre dalla Sveva Casati Modignani ha preso la pretesa di scrivere un romanzo di stampo femminista quando in realtà la condizione della donna resta sempre e comunque legata alla quantità di cazzi che riesce a guadagnarsi nel corso della vita.
Un giorno gli scrittori (uomini e donne in egual misura) impareranno che la promiscuità sessuale di una protagonista femminile non basta, di per se stessa, a trasformare detta protagonista femminile in una figura indipendente, emancipata e moderna. Non basta perché nella vita di una donna c'è altro, oltre agli uomini, e affermare la propria indipendenza da loro (specie se sotto forma di quanti riesci a portartene a letto) non ti rende una donna indipendente a tutto tondo.
Proprio in quest'ottica, peraltro, ho trovato veramente poco azzeccato che, alla fine della storia, il deus ex machina definitivo permetta ad Harriet di lasciare il lavoro per vivere nell'agiatezza con soldi guadagnati da qualcun altro prima di lei. Un lavoro che Harriet stessa, per tutto il romanzo, ha sempre detto di amare, diventa improvvisamente irrilevante, sacrificabile, di fronte al rientro nel ruolo di madre per la piccola orfana della sua ex padrona di casa. Per quanto sia innegabile che Harriet sia una figura di madre un po' sopra le righe (come d'altronde lo era stata anche la signora Delvecchio Schwartz), il fatto che Harriet rinunci al lavoro e alla carriera con così tanta leggerezza, senza nessun tipo di riflessione, come fosse una cosa dovuta e automatica in seguito all'essere entrata in possesso di una enorme somma di denaro, è veramente fastidioso.
Per il resto, il romanzo è banale, mal costruito, sbilanciato. Ben più della prima metà si spreca dietro la conta dei maschi che passano da camera di Harriet (o che Harriet vorrebbe passassero dalla sua camera), e dietro il ridicolo psicodramma della migliore amica di Harriet, Pappy, delle cui vicende onestamente non frega niente a nessuno, e che pure catalizzano tutto il narrato per almeno una sessantina di pagine. La vera storia comincia a quasi ottanta pagine dalla fine, e quando in effetti COSE cominciano ad accadere la lettura comincia a scorrere un po' più velocemente - il che non vuol dire che, però, sia piacevole.
Infine, Harriet è una delle protagoniste più insopportabili che io abbia mai incontrato nella mia più che ventennale carriera di lettrice. Vi basti sapere che inizialmente credevo avesse intorno ai sedici anni, il che almeno avrebbe giustificato il suo comportarsi e parlare come un'oca tradotta male negli anni '90 (e questo malgrado il romanzo sia ambientato negli anni '60 e sia stato pubblicato nel 2004, mistero della fede), oltre al suo infantilismo, alla piattezza dei suoi ragionamenti, alla sua fissazione per il sesso e alla sua scarsa considerazione del resto delle donne intorno a sé al di là degli sparuti esemplari ai quali ha concesso di entrare nelle sue grazie. Scoprire che si trattava in realtà di una laureata ventunenne e pronta per andare a vivere da sola mi ha veramente sconvolta.
E questo è il proverbiale quanto. Chiudo la recensione con una nota di tristezza derivata dal fatto di essermi lasciata abbindolare dalla quarta di copertina che prometteva progressismo e un parco personaggi interessante e divertente: nessuno mi ridarà indietro i tre euro spesi quel giorno alla libreria dell'usato in cui ho acquistato la mia copia, e - quel che è peggio - nessuno mi ridarà indietro gli ultimi otto giorni passati a leggere. Tragici inconvenienti del "mestiere".
Un giorno gli scrittori (uomini e donne in egual misura) impareranno che la promiscuità sessuale di una protagonista femminile non basta, di per se stessa, a trasformare detta protagonista femminile in una figura indipendente, emancipata e moderna. Non basta perché nella vita di una donna c'è altro, oltre agli uomini, e affermare la propria indipendenza da loro (specie se sotto forma di quanti riesci a portartene a letto) non ti rende una donna indipendente a tutto tondo.
Proprio in quest'ottica, peraltro, ho trovato veramente poco azzeccato che, alla fine della storia, il deus ex machina definitivo permetta ad Harriet di lasciare il lavoro per vivere nell'agiatezza con soldi guadagnati da qualcun altro prima di lei. Un lavoro che Harriet stessa, per tutto il romanzo, ha sempre detto di amare, diventa improvvisamente irrilevante, sacrificabile, di fronte al rientro nel ruolo di madre per la piccola orfana della sua ex padrona di casa. Per quanto sia innegabile che Harriet sia una figura di madre un po' sopra le righe (come d'altronde lo era stata anche la signora Delvecchio Schwartz), il fatto che Harriet rinunci al lavoro e alla carriera con così tanta leggerezza, senza nessun tipo di riflessione, come fosse una cosa dovuta e automatica in seguito all'essere entrata in possesso di una enorme somma di denaro, è veramente fastidioso.
Per il resto, il romanzo è banale, mal costruito, sbilanciato. Ben più della prima metà si spreca dietro la conta dei maschi che passano da camera di Harriet (o che Harriet vorrebbe passassero dalla sua camera), e dietro il ridicolo psicodramma della migliore amica di Harriet, Pappy, delle cui vicende onestamente non frega niente a nessuno, e che pure catalizzano tutto il narrato per almeno una sessantina di pagine. La vera storia comincia a quasi ottanta pagine dalla fine, e quando in effetti COSE cominciano ad accadere la lettura comincia a scorrere un po' più velocemente - il che non vuol dire che, però, sia piacevole.
Infine, Harriet è una delle protagoniste più insopportabili che io abbia mai incontrato nella mia più che ventennale carriera di lettrice. Vi basti sapere che inizialmente credevo avesse intorno ai sedici anni, il che almeno avrebbe giustificato il suo comportarsi e parlare come un'oca tradotta male negli anni '90 (e questo malgrado il romanzo sia ambientato negli anni '60 e sia stato pubblicato nel 2004, mistero della fede), oltre al suo infantilismo, alla piattezza dei suoi ragionamenti, alla sua fissazione per il sesso e alla sua scarsa considerazione del resto delle donne intorno a sé al di là degli sparuti esemplari ai quali ha concesso di entrare nelle sue grazie. Scoprire che si trattava in realtà di una laureata ventunenne e pronta per andare a vivere da sola mi ha veramente sconvolta.
E questo è il proverbiale quanto. Chiudo la recensione con una nota di tristezza derivata dal fatto di essermi lasciata abbindolare dalla quarta di copertina che prometteva progressismo e un parco personaggi interessante e divertente: nessuno mi ridarà indietro i tre euro spesi quel giorno alla libreria dell'usato in cui ho acquistato la mia copia, e - quel che è peggio - nessuno mi ridarà indietro gli ultimi otto giorni passati a leggere. Tragici inconvenienti del "mestiere".
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 13, 2015
5 stars on pure enjoyment scale. I loved this book and it will be one of those that I totally remember. Written by 'Thornbirds' Australian author, Colleeen McCullough, and originally published as 'Angel Puss', I read as relief from serious reading (Sarum, Edward Rutherford). Granted, I seem to have a particularly twisted, nasty sense of humor. The dialogue was totally smart, clever, entertaining, 'wish I could have said that'. Story involves a 21-22 year old bright female in Australia, finished her education, attempting to emancipate herself from her controlling family and her 'oh so totally correct' 4 year engagement to someone who won't 'kiss with his lips open'. Her objection to her family life is she must share a bedroom with both Granny and Potty, only one of which is human. She inadvertently meets the most interesting, hilarious, likeable group of characters I've come across in a long time. Oh how I wish I had been as sexually experimental, rebellious, and open-minded when I was in my 20's in the early 1960's. A total hoot, but also a much deeper read if you are open to an aspect of life known as 'spiritual' (and I don't mean religious). Recommend for irreverent nasty sense of humor friends.
November 17, 2013
Not sure how to rate this story of a young woman leaving her home and family to explore living a completely different kind of life than that which she's grown up with and been groomed to repeat. I couldn't recommend it as it explores so many aspects of life that I found distasteful to read about - prostitution, clairvoyance, adultery, homosexuality.
And yet there were also very touching, poignant and loving aspects too. Colleen McCullough has not lost her ability to draw a reader in and create colourful, engaging characters.
And yet there were also very touching, poignant and loving aspects too. Colleen McCullough has not lost her ability to draw a reader in and create colourful, engaging characters.
November 18, 2014
Honestly do not bother. If it weren't too generous to use the word literary in regards to this book, I would say it was the literary version of the 'Hey! Look at us dumbarse Aussies' theme that the film Crocodile Dundee gave us. Painful overuse and over exaggeration of the Australian slang that is so Aussie we don't even use it in our general conversation. Juvenile narrative, lazy character development and extremely boring. Just awful.
October 25, 2016
Great! Loved it, almost as good as Thorn Birds. This book is about the life changing people we meet during the course of our life and it makes a good job of considering that important aspect of our lives. I definitely loved it.
January 12, 2011
Didn't really like this book; a little crude.
April 9, 2012
I enjoyed this story. Colleen McCulloch’s Angel is an odd mixture of fantasy, the supernatural, coming of age and social history. Set in the 1960s it depicts some of the newly acquired freedoms for women during that era – getting a job that is paid at (near) male rates, moving out of home while still single, relationship choices and being able to choose one’s friends. I could say that once unleashed from her conservative family home, Harriet makes some incredibly unrealistic choices but as a child of the 1950s/60s myself, many people did make extraordinary choices. I guess that generation were the pioneers when it came to exploring these new freedoms and as such many weird and not so wonderful choices were made by otherwise ‘well brought up’ individuals.
Kings Cross in Sydney during the 1960s was a hotbed of vice, corruption, drug and alcohol excesses, crime and deviance in all its forms, which simmered away beneath an outwardly charming cosmopolitan way of life of trendy cafes, delicious delicatessens, alternative entertainments and theatre, artisans and eccentrics. In Angel, McCulloch captures it all right down to the lesbian couples, swankily dressed transvestites, tortured misfits and frustrated artists.
Alice is a fast moving story and one that maintains the reader’s interest throughout. It is also notable in terms of cultural history where the broader societal changes of the 1960s are played out within the subculture of Kings Cross.
Alice is an unusual story that I would recommend to anyone who enjoys unique settings and crazy characters.
Kings Cross in Sydney during the 1960s was a hotbed of vice, corruption, drug and alcohol excesses, crime and deviance in all its forms, which simmered away beneath an outwardly charming cosmopolitan way of life of trendy cafes, delicious delicatessens, alternative entertainments and theatre, artisans and eccentrics. In Angel, McCulloch captures it all right down to the lesbian couples, swankily dressed transvestites, tortured misfits and frustrated artists.
Alice is a fast moving story and one that maintains the reader’s interest throughout. It is also notable in terms of cultural history where the broader societal changes of the 1960s are played out within the subculture of Kings Cross.
Alice is an unusual story that I would recommend to anyone who enjoys unique settings and crazy characters.
October 26, 2010
While I couldn't decide if I liked it or not when I first read it about year or two ago, I was pleasantly surprised when I read it again for Book Club.
It's definitely a character-driven book and what colourful characters there are! Set in Kings Cross Sydney in the 1960s, it's a story about one young woman starting her life by moving out of home, starting a career (not a job!), and learning about life. Throw in some family, new friends of different ages, genders and persuasions - as well as a bit of chrystal ball and tarot gazing - and it's a nice, warm, read. You'll feel good after reading it as there's plenty of laugh out loud moments.
It's definitely a character-driven book and what colourful characters there are! Set in Kings Cross Sydney in the 1960s, it's a story about one young woman starting her life by moving out of home, starting a career (not a job!), and learning about life. Throw in some family, new friends of different ages, genders and persuasions - as well as a bit of chrystal ball and tarot gazing - and it's a nice, warm, read. You'll feel good after reading it as there's plenty of laugh out loud moments.
May 5, 2025
Harriet Purcell is 21 and her life is about to change when she leaves home to move to King's cross to live at Mrs. Delvecchio's rooming house.
There she meets a whole host of colourful and larger than life characters.
As she is immersed into the lifestyle of her fortune telling landlady and her mute child Flo, she feels a connection with the mysterious child that's like nothing else she has ever experienced.
As she experiences life, love and loss that bond with Flo is unshakeable and ultimately forges both their futures.
A great, whimsical story set in 60s, Sydney Australia.
There she meets a whole host of colourful and larger than life characters.
As she is immersed into the lifestyle of her fortune telling landlady and her mute child Flo, she feels a connection with the mysterious child that's like nothing else she has ever experienced.
As she experiences life, love and loss that bond with Flo is unshakeable and ultimately forges both their futures.
A great, whimsical story set in 60s, Sydney Australia.
December 5, 2013
I chose to read this book based on its author Colleen McCullough (writer of the Thornbirds) . I had hoped for more than I got. It was easy to read and held my attention, but I was disappointed with the overall content. Because it is written as a diary I thought it lacked the intensity of a story told in the third person. However, that said, it was a clever idea.
September 15, 2010
It only rated 2 stars as it is a character-driven novel whose characters I did not like. I had higher hopes for this book when I started reading it. By page 200, I was bored. I scanned the rest just to see how it ended.
January 2, 2015
I enjoyed this book, and the author's style. Set in Australia in the 60's, it was a reminder of how far women have come. The main character is ahead of her time, and discovers a community of interesting people, who, to main stream society are eccentric outcasts, but who she can relate with.
October 6, 2019
I adore it!!!!
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