The Ladies of Missalonghi

The Ladies of Missalonghi | Colleen McCullough

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My sole reason for reading this was the accusation that McCullough plagiarized L.M. Montgomery‘s “The Blue Castle.” And yep, there are an uncanny number of similarities between the two books. Personally, I don‘t think this one holds its own. I told a friend that it went beyond “discount Blue Castle” and became “Temu Blue Castle.” The parts that mirror Blue Castle do it worse—the way McCullough changes certain details of the plot weaken ⤵️

rubyslippersreads, DrSabrinaMoldenReads, lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks, julieclair

BarbaraJean (Cont‘d) …both the characters and the story. There are a couple of unique plot threads where Missalonghi differs from Blue Castle, and those were interesting…but overall, I was not a fan. Especially not a fan of the coarse, manipulative “romance” or the preposterous, nonsensical ending. I did want to know how everything turned out in the end, so it did keep me reading—but mostly in a “can‘t take my eyes off the train wreck” sort of way. ⤵️ 2mo

BarbaraJean Thank you to the #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead-ers who I subjected to this mess. I‘m sorry. Thanks for hanging in there and ranting about it with me! #LMMAdjacent 2mo

TheAromaofBooks I'm still not over how bad this one was!! I ranted about it on Goodreads a little the other day 😂 In the process of doing that, part of what I realized was just how much I love Valancy and how taking control of her own life means doing things on her own terms - like actually helping a childhood friend. Missy just started telling people they were ugly and stupid and, literally in her own words, dressing like a whore. Just. Ugh. 2mo

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julieclair @BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks Yes yes yes! Having just moved into a new house, I haven‘t been spending time on Litsy, so haven‘t participated in the discussion, but your comments above mirror my thoughts exactly! 💯 2mo

TheAromaofBooks @julieclair - Oh did you move?? Would you be okay with emailing me your new address? itsthegoodlife15 at gmail 😁 2mo

rubyslippersreads Temu Blue Castle! 🤣 2mo

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks Your Goodreads review is 💯 😂 It's interesting: taking control of your life manifests in SUCH different ways in both novels. Valancy's diagnosis prompts such wonderful actions. She doesn't just remove all filters & act selfishly. She simply stops feeling obligated to conform to others' expectations. Missy gets mean & awful. Plus, Missy's motivations (Una?!?) don't even make sense! GAH. The more I think about it, the madder I get! 1mo

TheAromaofBooks I just... Una's like “here, read some borderline-porno 'romance' stories to get you in the mood, then go seduce my used-to-be husband because as long as you let him shag you as much as he wants, he'll totally be good to you, but if you don't, he'll neglect you and get pissy, so obvs he's perfect!! PS even though I'm a ghost, I can sign critical legal paperwork for you!!“ MAKE IT MAKE SENSE 😂 1mo

36 likes8 comments

BarbaraJean

The Ladies of Missalonghi | Colleen McCullough

A couple more (non-Blue-Castle-related) questions:

Does Missy‘s journey ring true for you? Why or why not?

What did you think of the ending, and the reveal about the character of Una?

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMAdjacent

rubyslippersreads, DrSabrinaMoldenReads, lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks, julieclair

lauraisntwilder By the end, I didn't particularly like Missy. And that ending was ridiculous. 2mo

rubyslippersreads What @lauraisntwilder said. 2mo

TheAromaofBooks My other comments have probably revealed that I wasn't a fan of Missy 😂 And her journey did not really make any sense to me, honestly. The whole thing with Una at the end was absurd. And it left me kind of sad because it felt like Missy lost her one friend! 2mo

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BarbaraJean @lauraisntwilder @rubyslippersreads @TheAromaofBooks Like you, Sarah—to me Missy's journey didn't make sense. Her changed personality/actions don't make sense in the context of the plot. I hated her lying & manipulation and I hated the ending. The ending doesn't really make sense, either—it's inconsistent with the rest of the book! Una had tea with Missy & Drusilla & Octavia, she signs legal paperwork, but she's a ghost & invisible at the end? 🙄 2mo

TheAromaofBooks And somehow now no one remembers her?! It just felt like lazy writing. And I'm still not over the way that we're supposed to believe that John Smith has fallen sooooo in love after whatever it was, two days or something, that he's going to be 100% cool when he finds out that Missy literally lied about EVERYTHING to get him to marry her! 2mo

rubyslippersreads @TheAromaofBooks Una was right to advise Missy never to tell John Smith the truth. 😆 2mo

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks Oh, I'm pretty certain he's not in love with her. He says pretty clearly (and very coarsely) that he changed his mind about Missy when he discovered she's good in bed. That ain't love... he's fallen sooooo in lust. 🙄 @rubyslippersreads is right, Una was right in her advice! She also should have told Missy to make sure she always puts out. That would be perfectly in line with his character, as written. ⬇ 2mo

BarbaraJean Also, HOW does it make sense that John Smith's dead wife, who (according to him) was a terrible person who fought with him, cheated on him, and wouldn't let him “get his leg over“ decides to come back as his little matchmaker? They both thought the other was terrible, so why would she think he's a good match for anyone, let alone poor put-upon Missy Hurlingford? MAKE IT MAKE SENSE. 2mo

22 likes8 comments

BarbaraJean

The Ladies of Missalonghi | Colleen McCullough

The main difference between the two books is how the privileged Hurlingfords take advantage of the under-privileged women of the clan. What did you think of this part of the story—as Missy stands up for both herself and the disadvantaged women of the family?

What did you think of The Ladies of Missalonghi in its own right? Does it have merit on its own, apart from Blue Castle?

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMAdjacent

rubyslippersreads, DrSabrinaMoldenReads, lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks, julieclair

rubyslippersreads I actually liked this part. The family menfolk were jerks in both books, but at least here, the women got the best of them. As for standing on its own merits, I wouldn‘t read this again. TBC, on the other hand, I will always reread. (edited) 2mo

TheAromaofBooks Ugh, the Hurlingfords were SO unlikable. Who steals from old women?!? So I was glad that the old ladies all got some redemption and seemed to be better set for going forward. 2mo

BarbaraJean @rubyslippersreads @TheAromaofBooks Yes, I liked this part of the story, too. I enjoyed seeing the men get their comeuppance, and the women be provided for through Missy's efforts. I think it's the part of the book that works the best. My opinion of the book in its own right is still pretty low, however. 2mo

15 likes3 comments

BarbaraJean

The Ladies of Missalonghi | Colleen McCullough

What *differences* do you see between Ladies of Missalonghi and Blue Castle?

How do those differences impact the narrative?

How do those differences impact your view of each book?

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMAdjacent

rubyslippersreads, DrSabrinaMoldenReads, lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks, julieclair

lauraisntwilder Missy actually likes her mother. Their poverty is a shared enemy, rather than a basis for dumb rules. Missy is not nearly as likeable or sympathetic as Valancy though. 2mo

rubyslippersreads The quality of the writing. This author just does not measure up to LMM. (But then, who could?) And the coarseness. Obviously LMM wrote at a different time, but this book told me more than I wanted to know (especially some of John Smith‘s thoughts). 2mo

TheAromaofBooks To me, the biggest difference was how Missy was very manipulative and willing to lie to get whatever she wanted. It made her character arc somewhat unbelievable for me. With Valancy, you feel that she is actually growing as a person, determined to face her fears and live life on her terms. In fact, she becomes MORE honest as a person. We're told that Missy has been living her life as a mouse, but when we meet her she is already being somewhat ⬇ 2mo

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TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) deceitful and underhanded, so it really just felt like she got better at manipulating people rather than having actual growth. The straight up lying, emotional blackmail, and seduction made her a really distasteful character to me. I'm not nearly as confident that John Smith will be as forgiving of her as she seems to be. I can't imagine starting my entire marriage based on complete fabrications. 2mo

rubyslippersreads @TheAromaofBooks Valancy honestly thought she was going to die; she didn‘t borrow the idea from a novel. 😏 2mo

BarbaraJean @rubyslippersreads “Coarse” is the perfect word. Reading this so soon after Blue Castle, I couldn‘t help but think what LMM‘s reaction would be. The leeches, Missy‘s lies and manipulation, the coarse comments and descriptions—I felt like McCullough took a lovely, sweet, innocent, well-written story and dragged it through the mud. 2mo

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks EXACTLY. I don‘t find Missy‘s transformation convincing. The reason for it is supposedly Una, and that really doesn‘t make sense (unless you throw in some backwards continuity based on who Una is revealed to be, but even then, it doesn‘t make sense that Una would manipulate her in that way. Una‘s motivations don‘t make sense, either!) I really felt like the changes McCullough made ⬇ 2mo

BarbaraJean (Cont‘d) …make the story weaker and Missy‘s character arc just nonsensical. In Blue Castle, it DOES make sense that a beaten-down, shrinking violet personality would be motivated to stand up for herself and start LIVING because of a terminal diagnosis. McCullough removes that believable motivation and twists the diagnosis around into a manipulative thing that makes Missy, to me, a very unlikable character. 2mo

TheAromaofBooks And I just have to say that the line, “Valancy found herself shivering with the rapture of her first kiss“ is far more romantic and gives me that little chest-ping more than ANY of the strange lustful passages in this book. 2mo

rubyslippersreads @TheAromaofBooks I completely agree. I have a feeling McCullough never heard the saying “Less is more.” 😏 2mo

rubyslippersreads @BarbaraJean That‘s just how I feel too. There was really no need for this book to have been written. 2mo

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks No chest-ping from Missy's “small buff nipples“ and John Smith “getting his leg over“? UGH. 😖 ANYTHING would be more romantic than this “romance“!! LMM's romantic writing and this are like night and day. 2mo

16 likes12 comments

BarbaraJean

The Ladies of Missalonghi | Colleen McCullough

There are MANY similarities between Ladies of Missalonghi and LMM‘s Blue Castle.

Do you find McCullough‘s defense of “subconscious recollection” convincing (the idea that she read Blue Castle when she was young, but any borrowing was unconscious rather than intentional)?

Or are the similarities just too close to be “subconscious”?

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMAdjacent

rubyslippersreads, DrSabrinaMoldenReads, lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks, julieclair

lauraisntwilder The fact that there are so many similarities actually makes me think she didn't do it on purpose. She was a well-known writer by this time, since this came out after The Thorn Birds was already adapted into a miniseries, and I don't think she would have been so blatant if it was a conscious decision. 2mo

rubyslippersreads I think it was probably subconscious. It started off like TBC, but veered wildly off course. 😏 2mo

TheAromaofBooks First off, how could you FORGET reading The Blue Castle?! 😂 I don't know, I have mixed feelings. Some of this book felt like she had just lifted sections and changed the names. But this was sooooooo much worse than TBC that at some level they don't even feel worth comparing lol 2mo

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BarbaraJean @lauraisntwilder @rubyslippersreads @TheAromaofBooks Speculating about this is FASCINATING to me. I can't get over how many details line up. Reading it right after Blue Castle, just I couldn't swallow her “subconscious“ claim. But Laura, your point about her being well-known is a great one and I think you're probably right. And I'm with you, Sarah--it's SO much worse that I can't imagine someone consciously writing such a terrible rip-off!! 2mo

BarbaraJean Under spoiler tags is the list I compiled of the similarities between the two books. It's a LOT. 2mo

BarbaraJean Spinster MC lives with strict mother & aunt
MC has a large extended family who is prominent in town
MC has a beautiful, stuck-up, rich cousin who‘s engaged
MC has heart “attacks”
MC takes refuge in her imagination and in books
MC‘s strict mother & aunt disapprove of her reading novels
MC begins to rebel against the expectations of her family
MC begins to make scandalous comments at family events
There is a mysterious, roguish outsider in town ⬇ (edited) 2mo

BarbaraJean Family/town thinks mysterious outsider has an unsavory past
MC is fascinated by MO; he shows up in her imaginings
MC proposes to MO b/c of diagnosis and asks he not refer to her illness
There‘s a mixup w/ a doctor‘s letter containing a diagnosis
MC discovers her illness isn‘t fatal and wishes for the sweetness of death
MO spent years traveling after a relationship breakup
MO goes by an assumed/changed name
MO turns out to be fabulously rich 2mo

TheAromaofBooks Also the whole part where he's like “I was so excited to buy/own my own valley“ instead of island. That whole conversation sounded sooo much like Barney talking about why he bought the island. I think it's the details that make me feel like she purposefully ripped some of it off - the rich/beautiful cousin and the whole bit at the beginning where “if she hurries“ she starts feeling the pain. I don't know, I really went back and forth when I was ⬇ 2mo

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) reading it! And like we briefly touched on somewhere else - it's kind of similar to the way Anne is similar to Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, so do I only get mad about it when the second attempt is bad?! 😂 2mo

rubyslippersreads @BarbaraJean I love the list! 2mo

rubyslippersreads @BarbaraJean I‘m surprised the MO wasn‘t named Bernie Smith. 🤣 2mo

BarbaraJean @rubyslippersreads 😂 😂 It did occur to me that “Smith“ is really close to “Snaith“! Also, a couple of others for the list: both MCs suddenly become attractive when they change their style/color of clothing, both have unusual first names but their families call them by a nickname (although there's a reversal in one preferring the nickname and the other hating it) 2mo

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BarbaraJean

The Ladies of Missalonghi | Colleen McCullough

Several of us shared LOTS of thoughts early this week, but our scheduled discussion is today! Here are some questions to start, but feel free to add further thoughts, rants, etc.!

First, some general questions (separate from Blue Castle!):
Did you enjoy the book?
Did you find the characters likable—Missy, Drusilla & Octavia, John Smith, Una?
What about the antagonists—cousin Alicia & the other Hurlingfords?
#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMAdjacent

rubyslippersreads, DrSabrinaMoldenReads, lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks, julieclair

lauraisntwilder I will say that I liked Drusilla and Octavia better than Amelia and Cousin Stickles. And I liked Una...until the end. 🫤 2mo

rubyslippersreads It held my interest, which isn‘t the same as liking it. (And I think a lot of my interest was based in comparing the two books.) Missy‘s mother and aunt were certainly kinder than Valancy‘s, but Alicia, et al, were too over the top. 2mo

TheAromaofBooks Honestly, I wasn't a fan. I was prepared to like it, but I never actually connected with Missy. And I also NEVER forgot that I was reading a book that was written in the 80s. The writing style/conversation topics/things that were mentioned meant that I never was really able to be immersed in the story because it was so anachronistic. I had to look up to see when the story was supposed to be taking place. It had its moments, but the humor never ⬇ 2mo

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TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) quite clicked for me. I did like Missy's mother and aunt. The Hurlingfords were pretty dreadful. 2mo

BarbaraJean @lauraisntwilder Yes, Drusilla & Octavia were miles better than Amelia and Cousin Stickles. I loved that Drusilla was privately glad that Missy was finally showing some backbone (and that she was aware/in favor of the clandestine novel-reading!). They actually cared for Missy, unlike most of Valancy‘s family. I think Drusilla and Octavia were the best characters in the book. Also Una, but I agree with you about the ending—it ruins that character! (edited) 2mo

BarbaraJean (Cont‘d) Valancy‘s family is horrible & ridiculous, but they feel like real people. The characters here—mostly—do not.

@rubyslippersreads Me too—it held my interest but I didn‘t necessarily enjoy it. The first half I was cataloguing all the similarities to Blue Castle. By the middle, I was invested in Missy‘s scheme to stand up against the Hurlingfords (who I liked as antagonists until Alicia ran off with the chauffeur! Over the top, as you said. (edited) 2mo

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks Exactly—the whole tone was WAY off for a supposed historical novel. 2mo

13 likes7 comments

lauraisntwilder

The Ladies of Missalonghi | Colleen McCullough

pan

Wow. This book follows along with almost the same plot as The Blue Castle, then in the last third veers off wildly and finally falls off a cliff. Not what I was expecting! #kindredspiritsbuddyread

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lauraisntwilder

The Ladies of Missalonghi | Colleen McCullough

While there are a ridiculous number of similarities to The Blue Castle, McCullough definitely did not steal this scene with LEECHES in it. 🤮 #kindredspiritsbuddyread

BarbaraJean Ugh, yes. I hated this part so much. Well, I hated a lot of parts. 😆 2mo

20 likes1 comment

julieclair

The Ladies of Missalonghi | Colleen McCullough

pan

Well, this was…. different. I enjoyed the first half. After that, not so much. Almost every character got on my nerves, some parts of the plot were totally predictable, some made me angry, and some were just plain strange. And the ending… what the heck?! Can‘t wait for our #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead discussion. I‘m sure it will be lively. @BarbaraJean

#Pantone2025 #LavenderBlue @Lauredhel

julieclair @TheAromaofBooks @rubyslippersreads 2mo

TheAromaofBooks I felt like I was losing my mind while I was reading this 😂 What in the what was going on?! 2mo

julieclair @TheAromaOfBooks 💯😂😂😂 2mo

28 likes3 comments

BarbaraJean

The Ladies of Missalonghi | Colleen McCullough

“I notice Alicia has kept her choice to virgins only,” said Missy, whose stitch had been bothering her ever since the 7-mile walk from Missalonghi, and now was growing worse. To leave the room was impossible but nor could she sit still and silent a moment longer; to keep her mind off the pain, she started to talk. “Very orthodox of her,” she continued, “but I‘m *definitely* a virgin, and I didn‘t get picked.”

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMAdjacent

rubyslippersreads, DrSabrinaMoldenReads, lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks, julieclair

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BarbaraJean

The Ladies of Missalonghi | Colleen McCullough

“‘Darling, you look absolutely splendid! In a paddy, are we?‘

Missy took a couple of deep breaths to calm down. ‘Oh, just my cousin James Hurlingford. I told him to go bite his bum.‘

‘Good for you! Time someone told him.‘ Una giggled. ‘Though I imagine he‘d much rather someone else bit it for him—preferably someone masculine.‘

This sailed straight over Missy‘s head…”

👀🤣
#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMAdjacent

rubyslippersreads, DrSabrinaMoldenReads, lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks, julieclair

TheAromaofBooks This quote felt a little anachronistic to me, but maybe not?? What did you think? 2mo

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks Soooo anachronistic! There were several places where the dialogue felt completely mismatched to the era in which this was set (the other quote I posted was another one). I think it was this part that made me go double check when the book was supposed to take place! It felt so off to me. 2mo

rubyslippersreads @BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks Much of the book seems anachronistic to me. I have more comments, but I‘ll save them for after everyone has finished. (edited) 2mo

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BarbaraJean @rubyslippersreads I just finished it and I have SO MANY comments. 2mo

TheAromaofBooks I am almost done and I feel like an old lady pearl-clutching at a few of these scenes 😂 @rubyslippersreads 2mo

rubyslippersreads @TheAromaofBooks Me too! 2mo

TheAromaofBooks @BarbaraJean @rubyslippersreads What in the WHAT did I just read?! 😂 I finished this this morning and it was SO FREAKING WEIRD 😆 2mo

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks Right?!? I came close to throwing it across the room. 2mo

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks @rubyslippersreads I kept imagining LMM doing some pearl-clutching from her grave!!! I was so shocked by the “starting your honeymoon early“ part that I handed it to my husband to read. He said: “Wait, is this a pink-shelf book?“ then his face went 😳 and he said: “A woman wrote this? Your group should not be reading this. It's misogynistic crap.“ 😂 2mo

TheAromaofBooks For real, though!!! What even! 2mo

julieclair Just posted my review, and then came to look at the discussion. I only started reading on Sunday, so hadn‘t looked at it. My oh my, I‘m glad I‘m not alone! What the heck?!?!? 2mo

julieclair I didn‘t get to read The Blue Castle, so I can‘t speak to the plagiarism issue. I‘ve always wanted to read The Blue Castle, but think I‘ll skip it if it‘s like this book. 2mo

BarbaraJean @julieclair I will say: don't judge Blue Castle based on this one!! With Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm and AoGG, I felt like LMM said “I can make this better“—and she did. Here, it's like that Wuthering Heights meme: “I can make him worse.“ McCullough uses lots of similar plot points, but the quality is night and day. I feel like McCullough changed the parts that make Blue Castle work so well, wrote them poorly, then made the romance rapey and icky. 2mo

23 likes13 comments

BarbaraJean

The Ladies of Missalonghi | Colleen McCullough

Just a quick check-in partway through Ladies of Missalonghi!

How are you enjoying the book so far?
What are your first impressions?
How many plagiarism-like similarities have you found so far between this and Blue Castle?!

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMAdjacent

rubyslippersreads, DrSabrinaMoldenReads, lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks, julieclair

BarbaraJean Besides the similarities to Blue Castle, I‘ve been struck by a lot of dialogue that‘s hilarious, but surprising, for a book set just before WWI. I‘ll post a couple quotes! I‘m really enjoying Una as a character, but was a bit ambivalent about Missy until the bridal shower and its aftermath. 2mo

DrSabrinaMoldenReads I got mine yesterday 2mo

BarbaraJean @DrSabrinaMoldenReads I feel that—I had to read the first half on Internet Archive because my library hold didn‘t come in till yesterday! 2mo

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TheAromaofBooks I just started this morning, because of the no-chapter thing I knew I wouldn't be able to stop 😂 I'm enjoying it, but parts of it do feel like quite the copy! I don't remember the history of this one - did the author acknowledge LMM in any way? 2mo

rubyslippersreads I‘ve already finished. There are certainly similarities; it feels as though the author started with the premise of TBC (whether intentionally or accidentally) and then took off from there. (edited) 2mo

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks McCullough claimed “subconscious recollection“ in response to accusations of plagiarism. She said she'd read LMM's books when she was young & the similarities were due to subconsciously remembering TBC rather than intentionally copying. That defense rings false to me! @rubyslippersreads Yep, it seems to diverge more as the book goes on (at least so far--I'm a little over halfway), but it certainly feels like she started with TBC. 2mo

TheAromaofBooks In fairness, this IS a bit like a weird fever-dream version of TBC 😂 The parts that feel plagerism-y to me are sentences that are almost word-for-word to something in TBC. The flip side is - I ended up justifying LMM's similarities between Anne and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm - is this just something similar...??? 2mo

lauraisntwilder I've just started today and, so far, it's the same book -- but this edition has illustrations for some reason. 2mo

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks Hahaha... I had the same thought about Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm and Anne! This is way more blatant. I could dismiss the similarities with Rebecca as coincidence or unintentional. But here, these CANNOT be accidental/subconscious similarities. 2mo

TheAromaofBooks It's true, there were definitely passages that felt like she had just kind of reworded something directly from The Blue Castle. And where Anne was a far superior version of Rebecca, Ladies definitely was the absolute worst version of Blue Castle that I could imagine (worse, really, because I NEVER would have imagined most of this 😂) 2mo

27 likes10 comments

LitsyEvents

The Ladies of Missalonghi | Colleen McCullough

Reposting for @BarbaraJean
Here‘s the next month for #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead! We‘re just starting the tagged book for #LMMAdjacent, then after one more week back in the #LMMJournals, we‘ll return to the Emily books with Emily Climbs for an #LMMReread. Tag lists are in the comments… but all are welcome! Let me know if you‘re not tagged and you‘d like to be!

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BarbaraJean

The Ladies of Missalonghi | Colleen McCullough

Here‘s the next month for #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead! We‘re just starting the tagged book for #LMMAdjacent, then after one more week back in the #LMMJournals, we‘ll return to the Emily books with Emily Climbs for an #LMMReread. Tag lists are in the comments… but all are welcome! Let me know if you‘re not tagged and you‘d like to be!

LitsyEvents

BarbaraJean Tag list for Missalonghi: @TheAromaofBooks, @julieclair, @lauraisntwilder, @rubyslippersreads, @DrSabrinaMoldenReads

The Ladies of Missalonghi

2mo

BarbaraJean Tag list for journals and Emily‘s Quest: @TheAromaofBooks @lauraisntwilder

Emily's Quest

2mo

BarbaraJean Okay, Missalonghi readers, I have no idea what‘s going on with chapters in this book. I have found no chapter divisions in the print copy. The Hoopla audio has 9 chapters. Searches online say: 1. There are chapters, 2. There are no chapters, 3. There are 19 chapters. All followed by the caveat: “AI answers may contain mistakes.” 🙄 I don‘t know where I got 22 chapters from. 🤷🏻‍♀️ So: read roughly half this week & we‘ll check in on Saturday! 😆 (edited) 2mo

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TheAromaofBooks I just picked this up this morning and realized that it has no chapters 😂 Who does that!?!? 2mo

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks Terry Pratchett does that and as much as I love Pratchett it drives me crazy! I started reading last night thinking I‘d read a couple chapters and see how far that took me. At page 30 of a 200-ish page book, I thought the first chapter was getting kind of long, and I started flipping ahead. By page 100 I realized I had yet again made a huge mistake in trusting a chapter count I found online 😂 2mo

TheAromaofBooks That has actually been my biggest problem with reading the Discworld books! For some reason, the lack of chapters really turns me off of a book, and I can't even explain why 😂 2mo

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks I feel the same—the lack of chapters turns me off! I think my brain prefers defined units of content so I know how many bits there are to parcel out. I've seen quotes from Pratchett saying he thought chapters broke up the natural flow of a story. But NOT having them kind of breaks my brain a little. I mean, you have to stop somewhere and I'd rather know where the author would stop! I guess he does use scene breaks, but still. ⬇ 2mo

BarbaraJean The last Pratchett I read was an ebook version on Hoopla and it didn't even have any designation of where the scene breaks were. It gave me narrative whiplash to start a new paragraph and find I was suddenly in a completely different place with a different group of characters. That pulled me out of the narrative flow more than chapters would have! 2mo

TheAromaofBooks Oh wow, that would be SO confusing! He definitely jumps around, so I can't imagine not even having the warning of an extra space! 😂 2mo

26 likes9 comments

kwmg40

The Ladies of Missalonghi | Colleen McCullough

so-so

A historical fiction novel set in Australia of the early 1900s, this story was a quick and enjoyable read, but I found some of the characters' words and actions to be problematic.

#JoysOfJune #BookSpinBingo
@Andrew65 @TheAromaofBooks
#BookCrossing

Andrew65 Looks fun, well done 👏👏👏 4y

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 4y

38 likes2 comments

Teresereading

The Ladies of Missalonghi | Colleen McCullough

pan

I started 2019 with a title from Colleen McCullough Lovely illustrations and the novella started promisingly, shades of a Thornbirds family saga. BUT the latter half descended into a slightly menacing farce. Disappointing, I often see it in charity shops and now I know why!

3 likes

Brona

The Ladies of Missalonghi | Colleen McCullough

#missyreadalong now happening for The Ladies of Missalonghi #ausreadingmonth
http://bronasbooks.blogspot.com.au/2017/11/the-ladies-of-missalonghi-by-colleen....

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Brona

The Ladies of Missalonghi | Colleen McCullough

It's #ausreadingmonth and we're having a readalong of TLOM - join us by #missyreadalong & pop over to the sign up post - http://bronasbooks.blogspot.com.au/2017/11/ausreadingmonth-is-here.html?m=1

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Brona

The Ladies of Missalonghi | Colleen McCullough

That lovely moment when you realise you don't need a bookmark because your book has a pretty ribbon marker instead #happyreading #readathon @DeweysReadathon #missyreadalong

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