Book Review: Khaki Town by Judy Nunn

Khaki Town

by

Judy Nunn

Khaki Town, Judy Nunn's stunning new novel, is inspired by a wartime true story which the Government kept secret for over seventy years.
 

Publisher: Penguin Random House Australia 
Publication date: 1st October 2019
Genre: Historical Fiction
Pages: 382
Format read: Uncorrected proof paperback
Source: Courtesy of the publisher via Better Reading

It's March 1942. Singapore has fallen. Darwin has been bombed. Australia is on the brink of being invaded by the Imperial Japanese Forces. And Val Callahan, publican of The Brown's Hotel in Townsville, could not be happier as she contemplates the fortune she's making from lonely, thirsty soldiers.

Overnight the small Queensland city is transformed into the transport hub for 70,000 American and Australian soldiers destined for combat in the South Pacific. Barbed wire and gun emplacements cover the beaches. Historic buildings have been commandeered. And the dance halls are in full swing with jitterbug and jive.

The Australian troops, short on rations and equipment, begrudge the confident, well-fed 'Yanks' who have taken over their town (and women). And there's growing conflict, too, within the American ranks. Because black GIs are enjoying the absence of segregation and the white GIs do not like it.

Then one night a massive street fight leaves a black soldier lying dead in the street, and the situation explodes into violent confrontation.  

Judy Nunn knows how to write a great Aussie story filled with quintessential Australian characters.

Khaki Town, set in wartime Townsville, is a character driven story centred on the rumoured uprising of African American soldiers during their time in Australia helping to build airfields.

Nunn paints a vivid picture of the 1940’s. Val Callahan, one time prostitute, now owner of the local pub is beautiful, tough and astute. She watches over her two young barmaids, Betty and Jill, as if they were her own daughters. Baz Taylor the racketeer never misses an opportunity to line his pockets but he is always sure to stay on Val’s good side. Aunty Edie, an aboriginal elder, has had a tough life but she is proud and hard working. The young girls look up to her. The story follows all these characters as the soldiers invade their town.

The characters are sincere and believable and the main theme of racism rings true to the era and Nunn doesn’t soften the hate and racist talk. The story builds slowly on why the soldiers mutinied. Highlighting the effect the influx of American soldiers had on the residents of Townsville and on the Australian soldiers.

The attitude some people had to the African American soldiers is shocking but the treatment they received from their own white officers is horrifying.

Nunn has written a fictional account of the time but the main points ring true to documents that have been uncovered. This is a story that has been covered up by both the Australian and American governments far too long.

*The book contains offensive language that the author included to remain true to the era.

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My rating   4/5

This review is part of the Book Lover Book Review Aussie author challenge

book #30 in the Australian Women Writers challenge

Letter 'K' in the 2019 A-Z challenge

   

 

Photo credit: Goodreads

 

Judy Nunn's career has been long, illustrious and multifaceted. After combining her internationally successful acting career with scriptwriting for television and radio, Judy decided in the 80s to turn her hand to prose. The result was two adventure novels for children, EYE IN THE STORM and EYE IN THE CITY, which remain extremely popular, not only in Australia but in Europe. Embarking on adult fiction in the early 90s, Judy's three novels, THE GLITTER GAME, CENTRE STAGE and ARALUEN, set respectively in the worlds of television, theatre and film, became instant bestsellers. Her subsequent bestsellers, KAL, BENEATH THE SOUTHERN CROSS, TERRITORY, PACIFIC, HERITAGE and FLOODTIDE confirm her position as one of Australia’s leading popular novelists.

Book Club Book Review: The Bride Test by Helen Hoang

The Bride Test

by

Helen Hoang

Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Series: The Kiss Quotient #2
Publication Date:1st July 2019
Genre: Romance
Pages: 300
RRP: $29.99 AUD
Format Read: Paperback 
Source: Courtesy of the publisher via Beauty & Lace Book Club

Khai Diep has no feelings. Well, he feels irritation when people move his things or contentment when ledgers balance down to the penny, but not big, important emotions—like grief. And love. He thinks he’s defective. His family knows better—that his autism means he just processes emotions differently. When he steadfastly avoids relationships, his mother takes matters into her own hands and returns to Vietnam to find him the perfect bride.

As a mixed-race girl living in the slums of Ho Chi Minh City, Esme Tran has always felt out of place. When the opportunity arises to come to America and meet a potential husband, she can’t turn it down, thinking this could be the break her family needs. Seducing Khai, however, doesn’t go as planned. Esme’s lessons in love seem to be working…but only on herself. She’s hopelessly smitten with a man who’s convinced he can never return her affection.

With Esme’s time in the United States dwindling, Khai is forced to understand he’s been wrong all along. And there’s more than one way to love. 

The Bride Test is book 2 in the Kiss Quotient series. I didn’t read The Kiss Quotient book 1. I knew it wouldn’t appeal to me but after reading the blurb for The Bride Test I decided to give book 2 a go. I felt this was more in line with what I enjoy reading.

I did have a hard time staying connected to My/Esme. She started off funny, witty and determined. She knew what she wanted and was going for it. She was going to seduce Khai and make him fall in love with her. Then all of a sudden she did a back flip “I can’t marry you unless you saw I Love You”. Who was this insecure girl? I much preferred the Esme who was determined to do anything to better her and her daughter’s life. 

The character of Khai Diep, a young man on the autism spectrum, was brilliantly portrayed and I could feel his anxiety and inner turmoil as he tried to be himself and also please those around him. He always felt like he was letting everyone down which was quite sad to watch.

Esme did a lot of talking but no communicating. I feel a bit more communication could have solved most of their problems straight up.

The plot was predictable and ran along the lines that I was expecting. 

I would love to read the stories of Khai’s mother, Co Nga, who went to America as a refugee and started her own restaurant chain and Esme’s mother, Linh, who was left to bring up a child alone in Vietnam after a brief affair with an American businessman. I think these two strong women would have very interesting stories to tell.

The Bride Test was a highly entertaining, sweet, fun romance read.

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My rating  3/5

This review first appeared on the Beauty & Lace book club

 

Photo credit:Goodreads

Helen Hoang is that shy person who never talks. Until she does. And the worst things fly out of her mouth. 
She read her first romance novel in eighth grade and has been addicted ever since. 
In 2016, she was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder in line with what was previously known as Asperger’s Syndrome. 
Her journey inspired THE KISS QUOTIENT. She currently lives in San Diego, California with her husband, two kids, and pet fish.   


 

 

Book Review: Renia's Diary by Renia Spiegel

Renia's Diary

by

Renia Spiegel 

Translated by Anna Blasiak & Marta Dziurosz

Publisher: St Martin's Press
Publication date: 24th September 2019
Genre: Nonfiction/Holocaust 
Pages: 328
Format Read: eBook
Source: Courtesy of the publisher via Netgalley

Renia Spiegel was born in 1924 to an upper-middle class Jewish family living in southeastern Poland, near what was at that time the border with Romania. At the start of 1939 Renia began a diary. “I just want a friend. I want somebody to talk to about my everyday worries and joys. Somebody who would feel what I feel, who would believe me, who would never reveal my secrets. A human being can never be such a friend and that’s why I have decided to look for a confidant in the form of a diary.” And so begins an extraordinary document of an adolescent girl’s hopes and dreams. By the fall of 1939, Renia and her younger sister Elizabeth (née Ariana) were staying with their grandparents in Przemysl, a city in the south, just as the German and Soviet armies invaded Poland. Cut off from their mother, who was in Warsaw, Renia and her family were plunged into war.

Renia's Diary has been translated from the original Polish, and includes a preface, afterword, and notes by her surviving sister, Elizabeth Bellak. An extraordinary historical document, Renia Spiegel survives through the beauty of her words and the efforts of those who loved her and preserved her legacy.

Renia’s Diary is the journal entries of Polish born Renia Spiegel from 1939, age 15 until 1942 when she was murdered, at age 18, by the Nazi’s.

Diaries are an important part of holocaust history. They allow us to hear the voice of those that did not survive. The diarist is writing in the present and has no idea what today’s events may have on things to come.

Renia writes in her diary as if talking to a friend. It is filled with teenage angst; first love, first kiss and jealousies.

At times the war takes a back seat to Renia’s self doubt, troubles with friends and talk about boys. Whilst at other times it is the full focus of her entries. A lot of her feelings are reflected through poetry. She really is an amazing poet!

When the German and Soviet armies split Poland into two zones Renia is living in Przemysl, a small city in south-eastern Poland, with her Grandparents and the yearning for her mother is constant and heart-breaking to read.

As you would expect in a young girls diary some of the entries are obscure. She sometimes uses in-jokes or code words and you need to read between the lines.

As Renia ages you can feel a shift in her entries as she moves from the self-centred anguish of a young teen to a those of a mature woman in love.

The diary is published by Renia’s younger sister Elizabeth who escaped due to the help of Renia’s boyfriend, Zygu, and family friends. Elizabeth fills in a lot of the blanks that are left by the diary.

A must read!

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 My rating   4/5