Colleen McCullough - Tim

Mary Horton is content with her comfortable, solitary existence . . . until she meets Tim. A beautiful young man with the mind of a child -- a gentle outcast in a cruel, unbending world -- he illuminates the darkness of Mary's days with his boyish innocence. And he will shatter the lonely, middle-aged spinster's respectable, ordered life with a forbidden promise of a very special love.

Comment: This is an amazing book. The author is a hit or miss for me, but this book is truly amazing. It shows it was written in the 70's, but the theme keeps actual because people with problems are still not trated right by others.

Tim is a young man, very beautiful, but with a slighty retardation. He thinks like a young boy and needs a lot of attention. His parents are getting old and they worry what will happen to him once they're dead because Tim's sister will marry too and then what would happen to Tim?
Tim, despite, his problems, works and lives a normal life although some of his coworkers make fun of him, but he doesn't get why and isn't really offended. While finishing a job, he meets Mary, a spinster lady, and between them a friendship begins.

This is a swet book that focuses on the problems people with a mental handicap have and how others around them live and see them. It's also a study on how people behave in thei lives knowing the stress and worries that come with someone like that.
I liked reading about the praticality of Mary in taking care of Tim, and how their relationship developped. It was bittersweet because soem bad things happen - not to Tim - and everyone must react and change their opath accordingly.
I enjoyed it a lot, it's an interesting reflection on the human behaviour and the faith and beauty of people.