Sydney during the Second World War

Recently I wrote an assignment based on an oral history interview I conducted in 1994 with my mother. I decided to use the section where she described her experiences living in Sydney during the Second World War. Mum was twelve when, in 1939, she moved to Sydney to live with her aunt at Rose Bay and attend secondary school. A number of books provided background information about life in Sydney during this time.

Homefront
A useful book on this topic was Australians at home: World War II by Michael McKernan, Scoresby, Five Mile Press, 2014. The book provides an excellent insight into what it was like living in Australia during the war. Chapter four was particularly useful.

1942
This was the year the Australia feared invasion from Japan and the book, 1942: Australia's greatest peril, by Bob Wurth, Sydney, Macmillan, 2008, provides a detailed account of the threat and the reaction to it.

Another book on this topic is Australia in 1942: in the shadow of war, Melbourne, Cambridge University Press, 2013. This collection of essays, by Australian and Japanese historians and edited by Peter J Dean, looks at different perspectives regarding the intentions of the Japanese in the South Pacific.

A book that I found particularly useful for information about the shelling of Rose Bay was by Terry Jones & Steven Carruthers, A parting shot: shelling by Japanese submarines 1942, Narrabeen, NSW, Casper Publications, 2013. Part one looks at the shelling of Sydney suburbs by a Japanese submarine on 6 June 1942. The authors are particularly interested in where the shells landed and why only a few exploded. Photographs and maps accompany the text. Part two examines the shelling of Newcastle by another submarine while part three looks at the Japanese submarine strategy in general.

In 1992, David Jenkins wrote Battle surface! Japan's submarine war against Australia 1942-1944, Sydney, Random House. Jenkins writes about the Japaneses operations in Australian waters. Chapter 12 is about the attacks on Sydney Harbour, including the shelling of Rose Bay.

Australian politics
Bob Wurth wrote about John Curtin and how he and his government coped with the perceived threat of Japanese invasion in the book, The battle for Australia: a nation and its leader under siege, Sydney, Macmillan, 2013.

General information
Thomas Keneally has written a series of books on Australian history entitled Australians. The third volume is Flappers to Vietnam: a time of wars, changes and social revolution, Sydney, Allen & Unwin, 2014. Much of this book provides information about Australians during the Second World War including the war with Japan.

Another aspect
Not all children stayed in Sydney during the war. Ann Howard has written a book based on interviews with people who were evacuated to the country which was considered safer than living in coastal areas. A carefree war: the hidden history of Australian WWII child evacuees, Newport, New South Wales, Big Sky Publishing, 2015.

Hardcore 24

It must be nearly Christmas as another title in the Janet Evanovich Stephanie Plum series has just been released.

In this volume the police are concerned with the number of headless corpses that are appearing on the streets as well as bodies in the funeral home that have had their brains removed. There appears to be a zombie epidemic in the neighbourhood and whenever Stephanie tries to appehend bail absconders she keeps noticing strange people and behaviours - that is more strange people than she usually encounters in her work.

Added to this Diesel appears in her appartment and settles in to stay until he completes his current assignment. Stephanie and Morelli are continuing their relationship but Ranger, of course, is also in the mix. Stephanie's life is complicated. However the assistance of these three men is required to resolve the Burg's zombie invasion.

How the finch stole Christmas

This is Donna Andrew's fourth Christmas related book and it does not disappoint. Former titles are Six Geese A-Slaying, Duck the Halls and the Nightingale before Christmas.

Caerphilly, as usual, is celebrating Christmas in a big way. One of the highlights will be a performance of A Christmas Carol, directed by Meg's husband, Michael. Josh and Jamie have parts in the play while Meg is stage manager. An elderly actor has been hired to perform as Scrooge, however he does not always turn up to rehearsal in a fit state to perform his part.

But nothing is really straight forward in Caerphilly. Meg's grandfather has acquired a collection of Australian Gouldian finches that he is minding for a friend and the number will possibly increase. Robyn at the church, has received a request to hold a Weaseltide in the hall and no-one knows what this means. And then Meg finds a large collection of animals, including a tiger, in a barn. Add to this the discovery of a body in the snow and an elderley lady in a wheelchair living with a room full of cats.

Meg takes it all in her stride as she endeavours to ensure that the play will be a success and also helps solve the murder. This is number 22 in the bird related series of cosy crime novels by Donna Andrews.

Force of Nature

When reading this book while watching cricket in Adelaide recently several people, who had read The Dry, noticed what I was reading and asked me what I thought of the book. I was able to tell them that Force of Nature was also definitely worth reading.

Jane Harper's second novel is once again set in Victoria - this time in dense bush on a mountain range. A corporate character building hiking exercise ends in disaster when Alice, one of the participants, disappears. As Alice had been assisting Aaron Falk and Carmen Cooper in a financial investigation regarding the company, BaileyTennants, these two members of the Federal Police assist local police with the investigation. Not only is the area where Alice disappeared thick bush but the area has a reputation as four women disappeared in the region twenty years earlier.

The author reveals the story gradually. Each chapter consists of a section describing the search for Alice while a second section gradually reveals what happened during the the three day hike. It soon becomes clear that there is tension and history between the women in the group and what was meant to be a character developing exercise results in total disarray among group members. We also learn more about Aaron Falk and his relationship with is father.

It is great to have another Australian crime writer who allows the landscape to be a focal part of the story as the mystery is revealed.  I look forward to reading the next novel by Jane Harper.

The film, Force of Nature, based on the novel was shown in cinemas in Australia in February / March 2024.

Anne of the Island

Recently while shelving books in the library I discovered that the books in the Anne of Green Gables series by L M Montgomery have been published as large print books. I have fond memories of reading these books as a young teenager with Anne of the Island being a favourite. With some trepidation I decided to borrow a copy hoping that rereading the book many years later would not be a disappointment. Fortunately I thoroughly enjoyed being reacquainted with this book and its characters.

Anne, Gilbert and Charlie leave the Island to study at Redmond College on the mainland. Anne with her friends Priscella, Philippa and Stella share a house as they navigate their studies and friendship plus the challenges of love and life.

The book is about people, including Anne's adopted family at Avonlea, and about relationships,  particularly discovering the true meaning of love.

Reading some of reviews in Good Reads I am obviously not the only person who loves this book and its characters.

The book can also be read online:
Project Gutenberg edition
Page by Page books

A Distant View of Everything

The latest Isabel Dalhousie novel by Alexander McCall Smith allows us to renew our acquaintance with Isabel, Jamie and their growing family, now consisting of two small boys, Charlie and Magnus. The housekeeper, Grace, is only too willing to look after the boys allowing Isabel to occasionally escape to assist her niece, Cat, in the delicatessen. Isabel continues to edit the Review of Applied Ethics though she is finding it hard to concentrate on this task after the birth of Magnus.

A former school-mate provides Isabel with a philosophical challenge when she is told about a man who appears to be developing relationships with rich women in order to gain access to their wealth. Isabel decides to investigate and the book looks at the ethics of such an investigation as well as questioning the extent to which opinion can be taken at face value.

The descriptions of Edinburgh remain a feature of these books as Isabel endeavours to discover the truth not hearsay.

Gone Gull

Once again Donna Andrews has written a crime book with a bird related theme. Meg is assisting her grandmother, Cordelia, run the Biscuit Mountain Craft Centre where a range of craft courses are offered including Meg's blacksmithing class. However, after a while, acts of vandalism occur at the centre and a rival craft centre is suspected of trying to sabotage the Biscuit Mountain venture. Then the first murder is discovered. The police, aided by members of Meg's family, work to discover the identity of the vandal and the murderer.

Meg's grandfather manages to antagonise a number of people as he endeavours to discover the existence of a variety of gull in the area that was believed to be extinct. Meg's work is cut out as she tries to protect her family, locate the gull colony and save her grandmother's craft centre as well as locate the murderer. As usual, this crime story also describes the exploits of Meg's unusual extended family.

Another entertaining read, Gone Gull is number 21 in the Meg Langslow Mystery series.

Reviews of Gone Gull in Goodreads