Escaping cults and outwitting Nazis: our best books of this week
From an astonishing memoir of life inside Gloriavale to an exquisitely packaged novel of wartime intrigue, here are Review’s standout titles to read right now.
Unveiled: A Story of Surviving Gloriavale by Theophila Pratt
Bateman Books, Memoir
224pp, $39.95
Theophila Pratt, named Honey Faithful at birth, was born and raised in a fundamentalist Christian community named Gloriavale, in New Zealand. It was founded by an evangelist from Australia. When she decided to leave, at age 18, she was dropped at a bus stop, and had to fend for herself, despite having no idea how the “outside world” operated. She didn’t, in fact, know what a bus stop was! This is her astonishing story (the pictures of her as she is today – buying a house, loving a bloke – will probably make you cheer).
A Symphony of Grace by Anne Hamilton and Ruth Bonetti (editors)
Armour Books, Faith
231pp, $25
A collection of short stories and poems, reflecting on the promise of Christian prayer. Authors include an orchestral conductor, teachers, a graphic designer, a Burmese refugee and a psychologist, amongst others. The hope is that they’ll come together, like a symphony! It will be launched by Christian Authors Showcase Queensland, who are keen readers of these pages.
The Man The Anzacs Revered: William “Fighting Mac” McKenzie, Anzac Chaplain By Daniel Reynaud
Signs Publishing, Military History
262pp, $29.95
Daniel Reynaud is emeritus professor of history at Avondale University, where he taught for 32 years, and inaugural visiting historian at the Anzac memorial in Sydney’s Hyde Park. He is the author and co-presenter of eight award-winning documentaries on the Anzacs, and this book is his tribute to a chaplain whose popularity once rivaled that of Australia’s wartime prime minister (upon his return to Australia, he was greeted by a crowd of 7000 people).
The Secrets of Anzac Ridge in Flanders Fields by Patricia Skehan
Hachette, Military History
323pp, 34.99
Patricia Skehan reveals the secrets from the diaries of James Armitage, a young Sydneysider who enlisted on his 18th birthday; and the writings of Sir John Monash, with the permission of their descendants. The author is a well-known guest speaker on heritage topics; she was the guest speaker at the cenotaph in Sydney on Armistice Day 2020 (by chance, she was actually born on Armistice Day in 1946). She has also extensively researched the impact of the Spanish flu epidemic.
Gull Force: Australian POWs on Ambon and Hainan, 1941-45 by Joan Beaumont
New South, Military History
420pp, $39.99
Joan Beaumont is professor emerita at the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University. She is the author of the acclaimed Broken Nation: Australians in the Great War, which was a joint winner of a Prime Minister’s Prize for Literature. Here, she examines the plight of members of the Australian battalion of Gull Force, who endured the “harshest prisoner of war conditions of any Australians” in World War II. More than 200 Australians were massacred, and survivors endured more than 1000 days of beatings, disease and starvation on Ambon and Hainan. An absolutely shattering account of suffering, death and endurance.
Mother Tongue by Naima Brown
Macmillan, Fiction
372pp, $36.99
Young, discontented mum Brynne wakes up from a coma with Foreign Accent Syndrome, and decides to start a new life in Paris. Meanwhile, Brynne’s husband is sinking into MAGA-style conspiracy theories, particularly about women. How is this going to work out? The publishers say it’s good for fans of Nightbitch, All Fours or Bad Art Mother. It’s about time we had an excellent book on the broligarchy!
A Prefect of the Press by Ian Callinan
Arcadia Books, Fiction
269pp. $29.99
This is Ian Callinan’s 11th novel, and this time he’s decided to examine the print media (we’re obviously very fond of print here, so I hope he goes easy on us). It’s set at a time of tumult – the Vietnam war is under way, as is the rise of feminism – and it features an ambitious young journalist, Leopold Cloud (great name!), who is determined to rise in the competitive field of journalism.
Song of a Blackbird by Maria van Lieshout
Allen & Unwin, Fiction
245pp, $32.99
This is exquisitely packaged, and it sounds fascinating: a fictionalised account of a World War II-era bank heist, carried out by Dutch resistance fighters, featuring a young student, Emma, who is somehow drawn into the plan to swap 50 million guilders worth of forged treasury bonds for real ones, under the noses of the Nazis. Marvellous idea.
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