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The Ladies of Missalonghi
The Ladies of Missalonghi
Author: Colleen McCullough
ISBN: 9814
Rating:
  • Currently 5/5 Stars.
 1

5 stars, based on 1 rating
Book Type: Hardcover
Other Versions: Paperback, Audio Cassette, Audio CD
Members Wishing: 0
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Top Member Book Reviews

Eowyn avatar reviewed The Ladies of Missalonghi on + 22 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 4
I love this book; of all of McCullough's books I've read, this is my favorite. Missy Wright is a drab, poor member of an extended family of very tall, blond Hurlingfords, who own most of the little Australian town of Byron. She lives with her mother and one of her aunts on the outskirts of town. She has brown hair and her family always dresses her in that color, a reflection of her colorless life. Then, a stranger moves to town and a mysterious relation who works in the local lending library who inspire Missy to try and change her life.
reviewed The Ladies of Missalonghi on + 27 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
I loved this book. It's a quick, short, engaging read. I could really root for Missy! Loved it, I just wish it was longer. I think this book is less than 200 pages.
ldybritt avatar reviewed The Ladies of Missalonghi on + 15 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
With little option, less resources, a young woman decides to kick convention and bravely seeks out the love she knows she deserves,- sometimes you have to go after what you want in this life -
reviewed The Ladies of Missalonghi on + 4 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
this is a real "feel good" book, a short novel that will cheer you up in a hurry!
Melody1959 avatar reviewed The Ladies of Missalonghi on + 61 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
I wasn't sure at first but really ended up loving this story. I cheered for Missy how could you not love her after she put Alicia in her place- perfect book for a rainy day read!
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emeraldfire avatar reviewed The Ladies of Missalonghi on
Several years into the twentieth century, in the tiny town of Byron nestled somewhere in the Australian Blue Mountains, a shy spinster, her widowed mother and her crippled aunt live in genteel poverty. For thirty-three-year-old Missy Wright, her mother Drusilla and aunt Octavia, life is difficult living as the poor relations of the Hurlingford family - the most prominent family in Byron. Despite the Wrights being allowed to live at Missalonghi - Drusilla's home through marriage - the women are actually victims of the Hurlingford inheritance policy which allows only the male members of the family to inherit all the wealth. In turn, the men heartlessly abuse and dominate the women in their care.

Plain, painfully thin and doomed to dress always in serviceable brown, Missy has limited funds and suffers from periodic bouts of ill health. Her only consolation is her frequent trips to the privately owned lending library in town, where she indulges in her only vice - reading Gothic romance novels. Missy seems resigned to her fate, facing a dreary future until a distant cousin, a divorcée, arrives from Sydney...

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was a delightful little story, with a totally unexpected ending, at least for me. I do have a copy of Colleen McCullough's epic saga The Thorn Birds hidden somewhere on my bookshelf, but have never read it. That particular admission probably comes as quite a surprise to many people, but it is the truth: "I have not ever read The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough!"

However, reading The Ladies of Missalonghi is my first foray into Ms. McCullough's work, and it was a relatively quick and easy read for me. Engaging and rather quirky, I give The Ladies of Missalonghi by Colleen McCullough an A!
reviewed The Ladies of Missalonghi on
A very delightful and quick read.
reviewed The Ladies of Missalonghi on
This delightful short novel by Colleen McCullough is set in the Blue Mountains of Australia at the beginning of the 1900s. I've read it several times and never grow tired of the story. Perfect reading for a leisurely summer day!
rxkicker avatar reviewed The Ladies of Missalonghi on + 71 more book reviews
This is a sweet story. Reminds me of the Anne of Green Gables books.
reviewed The Ladies of Missalonghi on + 911 more book reviews
The Harper Short Novel Series. Book club edition.
reviewed The Ladies of Missalonghi on + 106 more book reviews
Colleen McCullough is known for long and winding novels like "The Thorn Birds," so I was surprised at the light touch in this story. It reminds me a bit of "Persuasion," by Jane Austen, but with an inimitable stamp of Australian life. McCullough really makes the charm and deceptive quiet of the Blue Mountains region - still beautiful and aloof from nearby Sydney today - come to life, and her plucky heroine is easy to like.
harmony85 avatar reviewed The Ladies of Missalonghi on + 982 more book reviews
This book is short, sweet, and a pure delight to read! I laughed out loud at the ending, just because it made me feel happy.

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