Colleen McCullough

Missy, a young Australian woman living with her mother and her aunt, falls in love with the mysterious man who bought her family's bottling business

The Ladies of Missalonghi

In 1903, the American author Kate Douglas Wiggin published Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. Five years later, the Canadian author L.M. Montgomery published Anne of Green Gables, which is said to have been heavily plagiarized from Wiggin's book. 18 years later, in 1926, Montgomery published The Blue Castle, which was completely original as far as I can tell. That brings us to Australian author Colleen McCullough's 1987 book, The Ladies of Missalonghi.

McCullough's book and Montgomery's are sisters, but not twins. It will be faster and more enlightening to list the differences between the two books than their similarities. The Ladies of Missalonghi is set in Australia and has a last minute supernatural twist. The events of this story take place over the course of a few weeks instead of a full year, and are driven forward by willful deception instead of coincidence and miscommunication. Missy prefers her plain childhood nickname over her fanciful given name, and her mother, although strict, does not burden her with guilt for the crime of existing. The romance between Missy and John seems forced, rushed, and unrealistic even beyond the demands of the plot and the conventions of the genre.

To me, the most impactful difference between this book and The Blue Castle is that McCulloch's characters show no sign of having an inner life. Though it is set in a much earlier era, the book's attitudes toward money, sex (there is a little sex in the book's back half; it is crass but not graphic), and politics absolutely belong to the 1980s. These two factors together make this a disappointing and hollow reading experience. On the other hand, it's very short and it made me appreciate Montgomery's book even more.

Naomi Sutton

In 1903, the American author Kate Douglas Wiggin published Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. Five years later, the Canadian author L.M. Montgomery published Anne of Green Gables, which is said to have been heavily plagiarized from Wiggin's book. 18 years later, in 1926, Montgomery published The Blue Castle, which was completely original as far as I can tell. That brings us to Australian author Colleen McCullough's 1987 book, The Ladies of Missalonghi.

McCullough's book and Montgomery's are sisters, but not twins. It will be faster and more enlightening to list the differences between the two books than their similarities. The Ladies of Missalonghi is set in Australia and has a last minute supernatural twist. The events of this story take place over the course of a few weeks instead of a full year, and are driven forward by willful deception instead of coincidence and miscommunication. Missy prefers her plain childhood nickname over her fanciful given name, and her mother, although strict, does not burden her with guilt for the crime of existing. The romance between Missy and John seems forced, rushed, and unrealistic even beyond the demands of the plot and the conventions of the genre.

To me, the most impactful difference between this book and The Blue Castle is that McCulloch's characters show no sign of having an inner life. Though it is set in a much earlier era, the book's attitudes toward money, sex (there is a little sex in the book's back half; it is crass but not graphic), and politics absolutely belong to the 1980s. These two factors together make this a disappointing and hollow reading experience. On the other hand, it's very short and it made me appreciate Montgomery's book even more.

The Hurlingford family have ruled the small town of Byron, nestled in the Blue Mountains, for generations. Wealthy, powerful and cruel, they get what they want, every time. Missy Wright lives with her widowed mother and crippled aunt in genteel poverty. Hurlingfords by birth, all three are victim to the family's rule of inheritance: the men take it all. Plain, thin and unforgivably single, it seems Missy's life is destined to be dreary. But then a stranger arrives in town. A divorcee from Sydney. And she opens Missy's eyes to the possibility of a happy ending. This is an endearing tale, full of wit, warmth and romance, from the bestselling author of THE THORN BIRDS.

The Ladies of Missalonghi

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