The officer barked a command and the escort began beating the prisoners with the bamboo canes. Bluey fell to the floor. Digger lasted a little longer before he too collapsed from the brutal onslaught. Bluey closed his eyes.
I can’t survive this.
Since he stood up for her in primary school, Bluey and Ellen have been friends, but in the years following school their friendship blossoms into romance. When war is declared, and Bluey knows he must answer the call, Ellen is left behind, waiting for the day Bluey will return. He does come home, and his feelings for Ellen are unchanged, but the war has left him scarred, and there are some battles that Ellen can’t help Bluey fight.
Bluey’s War is the tale of one man’s war – both his experiences of wartime, as well as his battle afterwards to deal with the memories of those terrible experiences. It is also the story of his wife Ellen’s own war – to overcome a troubled childhood and the trauma of seeing her husband changed by the war.
Bluey’s War is a moving tale which will resonate with Australian readers.
Bluey’s War, by Herb Hamlet
Penguin Books, 2009
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