Bittersweet

June 30, 2014
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. Agent: Michael Carlisle, Inkwell Management.

August 22, 2013
Pitched as a return to form for Colleen McCullough, Bittersweet is a family saga (although to describe it as ‘sweeping’ might be pushing it) set in depression-era rural New South Wales. The tale begins as four sisters (two sets of twins) begin their apprenticeships as professionally trained nurses, and follows their journeys to establish their individual identities at a time when women were still expected to stay at home and look after the children. Although they come from a background of relative privilege, each sister has her own particular struggle against the prejudice and restraints of the time. Edda is sexually liberated and desperate to become a doctor; Grace’s only desire is to be married; Tufts is determined to never marry; and then there’s beautiful and fragile Kitty. Each portrays a slightly different, yet compelling, archetype of female emancipation. McCullough draws on her own medical training to provide a layer of authenticity to the story and setting and as I read the book I was reminded of both the television show Call the Midwife and Kerry Greenwood’s fabulous ‘Phryne Fisher’ series. It is this combination of elements that I expect will have widespread appeal for McCullough’s many fans.

Rachel Wilson is a Melbourne-based media academic and former bookseller