BITTERSWEET is the story of four interesting sisters, two
sets of
identical twins, living in Australia in the 1920's and
1930's. The Latimer sisters are the daughters of a rector
and a selfish, nasty mother from whom they cannot wait
to get away. The rector recognizes the destructive
influence of his wife on their daughters, so he arranges
for them to attend nursing school at the local hospital.
Thus, they begin their lives as independent, hard-working
women.
One of the interesting themes of BITTERSWEET is the
subservience of women to men. The sisters are working as
registered nurses after they have studied valuable medical
techniques and as a result are able to support themselves
with worthwhile careers. Two of the four sisters decide
they do not want to marry because, as married women, they
would have to give up their nursing jobs and would not own
any money or property independent of their husbands. The
other two sisters, however, do marry and the results are
not happy unions.
When I first started reading BITTERSWEET, I thought that I
would have a hard time keeping the characters straight
since there are four sisters involved in the story.
However, the personalities of the sisters are well-
developed by Colleen McCullough and each woman is depicted
as a unique and strong female. The character of Kitty was
particularly interesting because, although she is drop dead
gorgeous, she has a "salty" wit and does not mince words.
There are very detailed descriptions of Australian politics
and the Depression economy in the early 20th century, but
the author's writing style makes the prose of the book easy
to read. Even though each sister has a struggle to
overcome, at the end they all end up in a good place that
is truly bittersweet. Overall, BITTERSWEET tells the story
of four very interesting and different sisters and I highly
recommend it to anyone who enjoys strong female heroines.
In her first epic romantic novel since The Thorn Birds,
Colleen McCullough weaves a sweeping story of two sets of
twins—all trained as nurses, but each with her own ambitions
—stepping into womanhood in 1920s and 30s Australia.
Because they are two sets of twins, the four Latimer sisters
are as close as can be. Yet these vivacious young women each
have their own dreams for themselves: Edda wants to be a
doctor, Tufts wants to organize everything, Grace won’t be
told what to do, and Kitty wishes to be known for something
other than her beauty. They are famous throughout New South
Wales for their beauty, wit, and ambition, but as they step
into womanhood, they are not enthusiastic about the limited
prospects life holds for them.
Together they decide to enroll in a training program for
nurses—a new option for women of their time, who have
previously been largely limited to the role of wives, and
preferably mothers. As the Latimer sisters become immersed
in hospital life and the demands of their training, they
meet people and encounter challenges that spark new maturity
and independence. They meet men from all walks of life—local
farmers, their professional colleagues, and even men with
national roles and reputations—and each sister must make
weighty decisions about what she values most. The results
are sometimes happy, sometimes heartbreaking, but always . .
. bittersweet.
Rendered with McCullough’s trademark historical accuracy,
this dramatic coming of age tale is wise in the ways of the
human heart, one that will transport readers to a time in
history that feels at once exotic and yet not so very
distant from our own.
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