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Bittersweet / Colleen McCullough - 3***
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The only thing I ever read by her was The Thorn Birds-I loved it. I will have to put her on my list of author's to re-visit.
I probably wouldn't have picked this up except that my F2F book club is reading it this month.
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Bittersweet – Colleen McCullough
Book on CD performed by Cat Gould.
3***
A mini-series soap opera of a novel, following four sisters (two sets of twins) in early 20th century Australia. The Latimer girls have the same father, but different mothers. Edda and Grace’s mother died in childbirth, and their father later married the housekeeper originally hired to help the young widowed father. Early on their goals and dreams for themselves diverge: Edda wants to be a doctor, Grace to marry and raise a family, Tufts expects to stay single, and Kitty wants more than anything to known for something other than her extraordinary beauty.
McCullough does a great job of crafting this sweeping novel. I was engaged and interested in the story and in exploring life in Australia at this time frame. I really enjoyed learning about the nursing training the sisters underwent, as well as the early limitations and advances in medicine during the early 20th century.
Ultimately, however, I did get frustrated by Grace’s manipulative “woe-is-me, I’m so helpless” attitude. Even Kitty – the extraordinary beauty – showed more gumption and grit. However, Grace did eventually grow up and showed some of the strength of her twin, Edda. I really liked Edda and the way that her story played out. She was the consistently strong one and seemed to naturally take on the mantel of oldest child and leader.
There were a few story lines that McCullough seemed to abandon for a time, and then reintroduce simply to resolve them.
Cat Gould does a fine job of narrating the audiobook. She sets a good pace and has clear diction and enough skill as a voice artist to differentiate the many characters. I was listening during a long road trip and it made the miles fly by! 4**** for her performance.
LINK to my review