Bittersweet: A Novel

Bittersweet is an Australian family saga incorporating history, drama and romance in a story about four sisters. The setting of the novel incorporates the Great Depression and includes a lot of discussion of Depression-era Australian politics within the story. The beautiful, intelligent Latimer girls, Edda, Grace, Tufts, and Kitty, are two sets of identical twins born of the same father but different mothers. To achieve their separate personal ambitions they sign up to train as registered nurses at the hospital in Corunda, their small city in rural New South Wales.

Their story is full of personality and the background details on medical techniques are fascinating. The main focus of the book remains the loves and lives of each of the show more girls. Each woman’s true character manifests itself as the years pass, their ties to one another frequently affecting their relationships with the men who interact with them and love them. Each of the Latimer sisters brings something to the table that is unique and multifaceted.

I enjoyed learning about the political and economic background of Australia during this time. Much of it takes place right before and during the Great Depression and I was unaware just how much they were affected. Although Bittersweet delves into some heavy issues such as female emancipation, homosexuality, unhappy marriages and suicide, the story never threatens to become too dark. Don't expect the Thornbirds but if you're in the mood for a romantic historical fiction set in Australia during the depression it might appeal to you. (3.5 Stars) show less

Book on CD performed by Cat Gould.

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 show more time frame. I really enjoyed learning about the nursing training the sisters underwent, as well as the early limitations and advances in medicine during this time period.

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. show less

I have mixed feelings on Colleen McCullough’s work. On one hand, Caesar’s Women and the rest of her Rome series are epic and well researched, grand-scale and personal, and basically everything that a historical novel should be. On the other hand, The Independence of Miss Mary Bennett takes the prize for the worst Austenite fiction I’ve ever read, and I’ve read quite a few. I was excited to read and review Bittersweet because I was sure it would either be amazing or dreadful, to the extreme.

So I was surprised at how terribly slow the first two thirds of the book were. The story focuses on four sisters, two sets of twins with the same father and different mothers. After the mother of the older twins died, their rector father show more quickly remarried the housekeeper, who gave him another set of twin girls. There is a tantalizingly brief mention of Maude’s speedy engagement and premature babies, which I translated into shotgun wedding, but it wasn’t really addressed again. The two sets of twins are almost the same age, and the older ones are kept back a little bit and the younger ones sped up a little bit so they can all start school together. (Squishing the girls into not-quite-right because it’s convenient for those around them is kind of the theme of the book.)

…

The sisters become nursing students, and there is mildly interesting class tension among hospital staff, and thoughtful commentary connecting the nurses’ special role of half waitress, half doctor to larger themes of women’s lib in Australia. It’s all engaging, but it’s not exactly a sweeping epic. The hospital is built on wide level ground so they don’t have to have stairs. (This is mentioned by pretty much every character in the book, so I thought it was worth mentioning in the blog review.)

from my review Mixed Reactions to Bittersweet: More underwhelming than bittersweet in this slow-moving novel. show less

Everything about the girls is unique, and there is as much time spent discussing the girls’ differences as there is discussing anything else about the story. Similarly, there is an immense emphasis on their sisterly bonds precluding any other relationships they form. While this is a key theme of the story, its continual inclusion into the narrative becomes repetitive. Readers are in no doubt that Edda, Grace, Tufts, and Kitty are four modern girls struggling to break through the chains of tradition as established by the government and society in general so the constant mention of this fact lessens the intensity of their story.

The girls’ battles for emancipation are by far the most intriguing aspect of the novel. Their stories unfold show more individually, allowing readers the chance to get to know them and see their development. Their individual challenges are as unique as their personalities, and it is a thoroughly enjoyable experience to see each one battle walls of bigotry and sexism and find a place for her while staying true to her ideals. If one were to devote some time and effort to it, one could predict just how their lives will unfold and to whom each sister will end up marrying. However, to do so removes the fun of reading the story. It may be predictable and comfortable, but there is an enjoyment to be found in that comfort that disappears when one spends too much time making predictions.

Bittersweet is not just about two sets of twins in a rural southern Australian town. The setting of the novel means that the girls will face the full throes of the Great Depression. As such, there is much discussion of Depression-era Australian politics within the story. While this does bring a richness of history to the overall story, it can be a struggle to make sense of the dynamics such political battles involve if one is not already familiar with the country’s history. Ms. McCullough does her best to explain the dynamics to help those readers understand the power struggles and their meaning for Australia as a country, but it does mean there are many pages devoted to such explanations. Every time the story veers into a political explanation or discussion, the story moves away from the girls directly and thereby loses some of its sparkle.

One can boil down the overall theme of Bittersweet to the following: life is never going to follow the path you may want or expect it to take, but things will always work out for the best. In the case of Ms. McCullough’s novel, it takes almost 400 pages to reach this conclusion. In such a scenario, one hopes that the journey of discovery to the conclusion is both insightful and entertaining. In many ways, it is not. Those hoping for another sweeping romance-drama similar to Ms. McCullough’s famous The Thorn Birds will find themselves highly disappointed at the much smaller scope and narrow focus of Bittersweet. show less

I received a free finished copy of this book from the publisher through the Goodreads First Reads Program.

Four sisters—two sets of twins, Edda and Grace, Tufts and Kitty—enter nursing school together in 1924. Set in New South Wales, the story follows them through their young adulthood to 1933. Each of the four has a distinct personality but they are exceptionally close, united partly by their resistance to their rather shrewish mother. Their closeness is their strength as they mature, but it is also a weakness in their relationships with those outside their close-knit circle.

When suitors come along there are conflicting loyalties, confusing emotions, and difficult decisions. All against a background of the Great Depression and the show more changes in Australian politics that come with the establishment of the Commonwealth government.

While the characters are well drawn, the story lines tend to be choppy and there are some serious gaps and unexplained leaps in the stories. One out of the blue, love at first site, proposal of marriage is a stretch, but two? It is a bit much, especially coming from intelligent men with a lot to lose from bad marriages. The solutions to the various problems seem a little too pat and unrealistic.
A disappointing read from a good author. show less

I expected so much more from this book. It had lots going for it. Setting, Australia. Characters, 4 sisters embarking on a career as professional nurses. But, the book dragged on and on. The events that shaped and changed the lives of these 4 girls could gave been dealt with in half of the book.
Medical thread is interesting considering the time period 1926-1930.

Historical fiction set in 1920s and 1930s in Corunda, New South Wales, Australia. Two sets of supposedly-identical twins born to the same minister father but different mothers. Edda and Grace, Heather (called "Tufts") and Kitty. All initially become nurses (under the "new style" training, where they actually learn some true nursing skills) to get out of the house and away from their overbearing stepmother/mother. Interesting and unusual relationships with the men in their lives. Tufts was the only one of the four I actually found likeable, and her story is covered less in the book. Cat Gould was a good reader of the audiobook.