The Ladies Of Missalonghi
(Colleen McCullough)
Think of a girl who has no physical attractions with all the personality of a mouse. And you have Missy, the heroine of the book. Missy, at thirty-three, is not allowed to go out of the house alone unless she is shopping. She lives with her mother and aunt, and all three of them watch every penny like a hawk. The family has no skills, and being ladies, it is unthinkable to go out to work, unless it were in one of the extended family's concerns, where they would be paid far below the market rate, and would be treated very shabbily.
Missy's mother Drusilla is a forceful personality who loves her daughter, but is worried that the girl (!) doesn't have enough force in her to carry her along.
The misery of Missy's life can be imagined by the fact that her guilty pleasures are the reading of books from a paid library, and going out for a walk alone. Her unattainable dream is to walk in the valley near their house.
Into this world enters Una, a distant cousin who works in the library and introduces Missy to novels. Una is beautiful, radiant, and full of life. She is the catalyst for a whole lot of changes in Missy's life - she expresses an opinion in her home, and retorts to her cousin when the latter is being condescending to her. And then Missy meets a big stranger on one of her shopping trips - a man with a PAST. He has bought the valley near her home, and Missy feels that she has to abandon her one dream.
Till she decides that she will resolve this problem by marrying the stranger. She proposes and is rejected, but this doesn't deter her. She persists till he marries her, and comes to love her in the couple of days since they were married.
A delightful book, full of humour, sadness, a quiet desperation, an angel, beauty, realism, and the hope that love brings. Not to be missed.
Resumos Relacionados
- Hope Valley
- Gem Squash Takaloshi
- Love Story
- David Copperfield
- Redeeming Love
|
|
