A Rose for the ANZAC Boys by Jackie French

Midge is not unique in having several relatives involved in the war in one way or another. Midge's aunt Lallie is also at the war, as a trained nurse in an army hospital. Douglas is posted to Flanders to fight on the Western Front, with Tim being sent to Gallipoli. Her older brother Douglas and her twin brother Tim both enlist to fight. Sixteen year old Margery Macpherson, known as Midge, is the daughter of a prosperous NZ sheep farmer, and is attending a finishing school in the English countryside when WW1 breaks out. French’s prose is fluent and polished, readily accessible to a wide readership, but thankfully, not dumbed down for a junior market. To my surprise, thanks to this book I learned that tens of thousands of women beavered away tirelessly behind the front lines of WW1 to provide support for the soldiers.Īlthough this book is categorised as Young Adult, it is written in such good style that it is appealing to all ages. I had known that some women accompanied their men to war in earlier centuries, but believed that the practice had died out with the advent of modern warfare in the 20th century. Jackie French's novel explodes that myth comprehensively.

All my life I have believed that those glorious young men went off to war, leaving their womenfolk at home, waiting anxiously for their return. Reading this book led to a paradigm shift in my understanding of Australian and New Zealander participation in World War 1. A Rose for the ANZAC Boys certainly delivered on both counts.

If a book is well written and well researched, I not only have the pleasure of an entertaining read, but also I learn new things about different aspects of history. Nowadays I find that historical fiction is my favourite genre.

A Rose for the ANZAC Boys by Jackie French