I have an admission - I have lost my notes so I am going to keep this brief and from memory. Please add comments to the blog post with additional points that I have failed you on.
A good group of us met to discuss this book - the story of Australian nurses who volunteered to nurse in World War 1 and found themselves on an incredible journey travelling through Egypt to nurse the injured from the Dardanelles and then to France.
Quickly the book establishes the senseless and cruel loss of life that comes with war and gives a clear insight into the extreme conditions that medical corps were working in, ill-equipped and overwhelmed thay rarely lost their sense of professionalism even if they lost all hope.
Keneally has the ability to use language in an almost poetic way to describe even the most horrific circumstances. It is a hard story, well researched and told in a manner that holds no punches yet enables the reader to continue through the horror and sadness that frequently arises.
Central to the story are two sisters: Sally and Naomi Durance, both nurses with very different careers - Sally stays in their home bush town, and cares for her dying mother whilst Naomi heads to Sydney and is altogether more sophisticated. We found it hard to warm to Naomi at the beginning but quickly we came to like and respect her (as Sally did too) so that by the end of the book it was hard to choose a favourite sister. In fact it became quite difficult at times to remember which sister was which as the story ran on - they 'morphed' so well that even the author got the confused at one point when he refers to Sally waiting when it should have been Naomi (I wrote the page number down but I lost it!)
We enjoyed the 'challenge' of reading narrative with no speech marks - indeed it is surprising how quickly this feature became quite unnoticeable.
The nurses enjoy high status and are well looked after by the officers but are less well treated by the 'orderlies'. Love is, perhaps unsurprisingly, a key part of the story as each of the nurses meet different partners in different circumstances. For example we experienced the joy of love at first sight, the trauma of sudden loss; the sadness of seeing your own child injured; the inequality of rape; the inequity of a frowned upon nurse/patient relationship; a proposition by a female doctor; a husband and wife dealing with personality change from head injury - all clearly experiences of real nurses during the war.
Of the characters we found space in our hearts for Nettice (who fell in love with a blind patient) and Honora who lost her sense of joy at the same time she lost her love and Mitchie, the indomitable matron who never gives up as that would mean losing touch with her son.
The ending is confusing and not all the group agreed that it was a good ending though perhaps it continues the senseless brutality, the horror of war and of the death, mutilation and annihilation that came with the war to end all wars.
Would we recommend this book? Yes, it is a brilliant read.
Our next meeting is on Thursday 20th July (8pm at The Hundred) when we will discuss The Trouble with Goats and Sheep by Joanna Cannon.
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