The Ghost at the Wedding

by Shirley Walker

Three generations, two world wars, one family.In the year of 1914, in the canefields of northern New South Wales, the young men couldn't wait to set off for the adventure of war. The women coped as best they could, raised the children, lived in fear of being next to receive an official telegram. They grieved their dead, and came to learn that for returned men there are worse things than death in combat. They bore more children to replace those lost in the First World War, and the sons were just the right age to go off to the second.The Ghost at the Wedding is like no other account of war, chronicling events from both sides – the horror of the battlefields and the women who were left at home. Shirley Walker's depictions of those battles – Gallipoli, the Western Front, the Kokoda Track – are grittily accurate, their reverberations haunting.Written with the emotional power of a novel, here is a true story whose sorrow is redeemed by astonishing beauty and strength of spirit.

Genres: Nonfiction, Australia

248 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

There can be little doubt that military history is one aspect of modern publishing is in good health. Every year here in Australia there are new histories focussing on World Wars I & II, and lately also Vietnam. Women at war get their share of attention too, with Patsy Adam-Smith being the first (I think) to introduce the theme to the general public with Australian Women at War (1984), and more recently the travails of the Home Front have become topics for student study and general interest.

But I don’t think there can ever be enough books about the enduring suffering that war causes. When governments and the people who elect them make the decision to send young people to war, they ought to be fully cognizant of the effects of that decision, and Shirley Walker’s The Ghost at the Wedding has a contribution to make to that awareness. It is a variant of family history which focusses on the story of Walker’s mother-in-law Jessie – and her brothers who died in wars twenty years apart; her husband who came back a damaged, embittered man and the brothers he lost to World War I; and her sons who survived World War II but not entirely unscathed.

To read the rest of my review please visit http://anzlitlovers.wordpress.com/201...

[Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

The subject was compelling but the writing let me down. The change in tense confused me somewhat and I didn't find it easy to return to after a few days - it was better to read it in bigger chunks so as not to become confused! There were beginnings of storys that never went anywhere and lead-ups that fell flat. Disappointing in that regard, however, the stark reality of what families went through during this period remain compelling and something that should not be forgotten.

[Josie Seto · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tragic. Like a dramatised biography - but not always in order or clear whose perspective.

[Banafsheh Serov · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lyrical memoir written with great tenderness, The Ghost at the Wedding is an imaginative retelling of Jessie Walker’s family truth. In parts where facts fall short or time has eroded, Walker’s imagination has stepped in to fill in the gaps and breathe soul into the characters. Through family photos, letters, anecdotes and Jessie’s paintings in her later life, The Ghost at the Wedding Spans two generations, of the Walker family through two world wars as they survive hardship, disappointments, death, betrayal and sorrow.

Unlike most war books that concentrate on the battles and the soldier’s experiences, The Ghost at the Wedding reflects on the generation of women who saw their brothers and loved ones go off to war in search of adventure whilst the women stayed behind and mourned their absence. Upon the soldier’s return, the women picked up the pieces of their broken bodies and grieved for the ones who never made it back. As their lives continued along its path one generation of men lost to the Great War was soon replaced with another who grew and fought in the next war.

The Ghost at the Wedding is a poignant snapshot of Australian history retold through this beautifully reconstructed memoir that should rightfully be treasured by all Australians.

[Susanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first couple of pages had me wondering whether I would make it through this story, but then it all came together and I really enjoyed it.

I found myself forgetting that this was a true story at times. The story flowed so well that I was caught up in the narrative until the author occasionally referred to her own role (as the daughter-in-law of the central character).

The story of this family is very moving and quite fascinating to anyone with an interest in modern Australian history or Australia's involvement in the First and Second World Wars. I found myself wishing that my Grandmother was still around so that I talk to her about her experiences during that time.

This story really made me think about the longterm impact on relationships from these two major wars (and others for that matter).

Detailed reviews at Suite101.com and Reading Upside Down.

[Kathi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heartbreaking.
Relevant.
Beautifully written.
I wish it weren't the story of so many.

[Deb Kingston · Rating 5 out of 5]

A truly heart felt, moving and eloquently written memoir of the devastation wars has on generations of families. A gripping testimony of the human spirt.

[Shreedevi Gurumurty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three generations,
two world wars,
one family
A true story whose sorrow is redeemed by astonishing beauty and strength of spirit.The young men who worked in the canefields of northern New South Wales in 1914 couldn't wait to set off for the adventure of war. The women coped as best they could, raised the children, and lived in fear of an official telegram. They grieved for those killed and learnt of worse things than death in combat. They bore more sons to replace those lost, and they were just the right age to fight in the Second World War.
Shirley Walker writes a moving story about her late mother-in-law, Jessie M. Walker, a local painter, who used her art to communicate important emotional truths and to reconstruct the inner life of each character.
The story flows like the waters of the Clarence River, ebbing and flowing between past and present, and back again: from Jessie's nursing home in 1983, through the cane fields of northern NSW, and the killing war fields of Gallipoli, France and the Pacific Theatre and towards the future.
In North Queensland, the Colonial Sugar Refining Company was one of the biggest employers, making the sugar cane industry a significant economic and social influence in Australia from the 1870s,with the introduction of cheap South Pacific and Italian labour.Once the industry could expand,a process of chain migration helped create multicultural communities in southern Queensland and northern NSW,based on the cane farms.
A group of men get together and form a cane-cutting gang. Queensland sugar cane cutters were itinerant workers contracting with a cane farmer, cutting the cane and loading it for transport, from early morning to dark.
Before her marriage to WW1 veteran and farmer, Edward (Ted) "Eddie" Walker, Jessie kept house for an Italian doctor and his family.
St Joseph's Orphanage(1887-1979) is located in Kincumber,NSW,on the Central Coast, and was run by the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart. It was a Boys' Home for the most part, but it later admitted girls.Life at the orphanage was tough, filled with chores associated with country life, endless prayers, meagre food, and super strict nuns.

[SHR · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a memoir about 3 generations of a family and their experiences of the first and second world wars. It focuses on Jessie and her relationships with the men who went to war, her brothers, her husband and her sons. It is different to other war centric books I have read, because even though the wars and the effects of war are at the centre of the book, the descriptions of war are not. They are there and they are accurate but somehow they still feel glossed over and almost peripheral.

The focus was more on how men acted once returned from war, how war impacted on families and women, while the men were away and how the after affects of the men’s experiences of war changed relationships and internal and external landscapes upon their return (assuming they did actually return).

The ghost at the wedding refers to Jessie’s brother Joe, who was killed during the Second World War. The book is written by Jesse’s daughter-in-law and is based on diaries, family letters, stories and historical research. Some of the inner world of Jesse and Ted are imagined but I think that is OK, it helps to flesh out the people and the way it is presented is as if it is one option of how the person may have felt, often more than one possibility is presented.

The descriptions of the paintings Jesse did later in life are particularly effective; they are evocative and telling of her inner struggles.

[Elizabeth S · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had high hopes for this book but finished it feeling dissatisfied. The author admits she had to "imagine the inner lives of each character" and we learn that the central character, Jessie, the author's mother-in-law had, as an old woman, "tried to destroy everything that reminded her of her marriage, everything remotely to do with Oscar (her second son) and his family". Mementoes and documents were salvaged by a quick-thinking grandson, but one has to wonder how many were lost and how many voids created in the family's knowledge of its history. For me, there are too many sketchily-drawn characters, too many glossed-over events throughout the book and the result is an uncomfortable mish-mash of fact and fiction. One particularly frustrating, unresolved, story is that of the fate of Jessie's brother-in-law, Leslie, during and after the First World War. Leslie is believed to have died, killed in action, yet his survival is hinted at when Jessie and Ted, receive a written message purportedly from Leslie, appealing to them to bring him home from England after the war has ended. Ted's response is, apparently, to weigh up whether he can afford to make the effort to search the convalescent homes and hospitals of England for his brother. We are told he checks with the Army Records Office in Melbourne and receives confirmation of his brother's death, and with that is apparently satisfied that he has done all he can. We aren't privy to Jessie's (real or imagined) reaction to the letter and no more is heard of Leslie for the remainder of the book. Detail, depth and continuity were found wanting in this book. In my opinion, it could have been so much better - and a more satisfying read - had it been presented as a work of fiction and included factual information to make a convincing, authentic account of one family's inter-generational experience of war.

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's easy to forget that this is a real life account - the story flowed so easily and was so engaging that it was only when the author referred to her own role (daughter-in-law) that it reminded me that this wasn't a work of fiction.

The story of Jessie, her parents, brothers, husband and sons conveys the wrenching emotional impact of the World Wars on both the soliders and their families. In particular it focuses on the emotional damage caused - at home there were years of anxiety, uncertainty, fear, loss and struggle. However the impact on the surviving soldiers was gut wrenching - while physical injuries are mentioned, the feelings of guilt, fear, resentment and bitterness changed them forever.

The homecomings were bittersweet - as relieved and happy as the families were to have some of their men home safe and sound again. They soon realized the they were never the same - they had seen and been part of things that could never be erased and should never be experienced by anyone. It's no wonder that these men lived with their horrors until their deaths.

A beautiful family story that brought many a tear to my eye.

[Don Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has just been added to my list of the 50 best books I've read. Achingly beautiful.

[Julianne Negri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Listen up gen x, y and z! The generation of people who lived through the years 1914 – 1946 lived through two world wars. There was devastation on the battle front, we know, but also hugely on the home front as well. Most cruelly, the timing of these wars meant that the children of the first world war diggers where ripe cannon fodder for the second. Can you imagine that? Oh you’ve heard about the battles and the incredibly inhumane conditions in the trenches. But can you imagine how surviving that must affect your whole life? Your family life, your home, your parenting, your creativity? Read this book. “The Ghost at the Wedding” by Shirley Walker, and you will understand.
“The Ghost at the Wedding” is the memoir of Jessie, the author’s mother in law, but has a plot and cast of complex character interactions you would expect to find in a good novel. This book is so much more than a rich portrait of a woman. It is story of a time where the world war affected so many. It is the story of battle fronts and home fronts. And it is a reminder of what a life actually is – what it encompasses and absorbs and emanates. A reminder that the “ordinary lives” are truly extraordinary.
With a great sense of history, Jessie’s existence is anchored in reality with both a richly descriptive past and strikingly observed present. Jessie is tethered in time by Shirley Walker with the opening which tells of her Gaelic ancestors who sailed from the Western Hebrides and settled in NSW. We gain understanding of Jessie’s choices and outlook though understanding her parents, her religion and her past.
Jessie’s present as an elderly person, is one of an artist. She paints surreal allegorical works where she delves into the repercussions of two world wars; the loss, grief and ripple effects of a life loving a troubled returned soldier.
This book covers two world wars, and the ongoing suffering endured by families both during and post war. Jessie’s future husband, Eddie, serves in the First World War in Gallipoli and France along with his brother Leslie and Jessie’s brother Joe. Tragically, three of her Jessie’s sons and two younger brothers were the “right” age to enlist in the Second World War.
Part of the book concentrates on Eddie’s experiences on the front and his past, in an orphanage, so that we understand Jessie and Eddie’s relationship. The war scenes truly transport you there. Shirley Walker writes all the people with great warmth, even those whose actions are perhaps not noble or well meaning. This book is at its best when unfolding the emotional complexities of the past that affect who we are and how we love and chose to live.
The tone is at times conversational– as if Shirley Walker is telling you the story over cup of tea. She includes her own part in the narrative and slips effortlessly between time periods. Sometimes the tone is a little over arched and flowery, which took me away from the immediacy of the tale. This book is obviously a genuine labour of love and therefore, I imagine, difficult to edit. At times there is a tone of trying very hard and in great earnest to get across the importance of Jessie’s life. In many ways Shirley Walker didn’t have to try that hard – so much is simply there in the events, the actions and the vivid rendering of the people. The reader can grasp this importance anyway.
Overall, what is always sustained, is a great story. There is tenderness and respect for all people involved, a richly wrought backstory and strong sense of the times. The greatest triumph of this book is to remind us all of the value of a life – that ordinary lives involve times of extraordinary feats of tolerance, survival, grief, an acceptance of horrors, but sometimes an impossibility to bury demons. A reminder of those who were involved in the two world wars, both at the battle front and home front, and importantly, the effect of war in the years after. More than a portrait of one woman, this is the story of many lives in the truest sense; a reminder that real lives encompass epic joy, tragedy, loss and compassion.

*I read this book as part of the Australian Women Writers Challenge http://australianwomenwriters.com/(less)

[Rowan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book by Shirley Walker is about the unfolding story and life of her mother inlaw Jesse Walker and her life, her family and the profound influence of the two world wars upon it.

I found this book to be one part biogrpahy, one part story, a tiny bit of fictionalisation which the author freely admits and one part history. At times the author seems to jump ahead from past tense to present tense leaving the reader to make an assumption which is then corrected later on.

The real strength and joy of this book is simply the difference in perspective to which it through Jesse Walker views life and war. Its is extraordianary that within 20 years of world history men and sons share in unspoken pain and grief at the inhumanity of war. I related to this personally with a strong anti-war sentiment in my own familiy experienced through both world wars.

Over all I enjoyed and liked this book. It would be been great to have photographs and maps included. It was interesting to google up the Sons of Clovas painting mentioned frequently. It is a very haunting picture.

[Ros · Rating 5 out of 5]

A truly beautiful memoir crafted from letters, diaries, war service records, photos, paintings and a small section where no information could be located fictionalised.
The life for new settlers to Australia is featured, especially the cane growing around the Clarence River. For people who spent most of their time out of doors it was pleasing to read their observations of nature. Links between stories the young people heard and their experiences of the locations as soldiers was convincingly written. This is written with love but also with sadness for the damage war caused to so many servicemen and their families.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Ghost at the Wedding, Shirley Walker’s 2010 memoir of her mother-in-law Jessie, explores the devastating impact the First and Second World Wars had on the soldiers themselves, as well as the women left at home. She does so with deftness and subtlety, in a beautifully-rendered “imaginative reconstruction” of her family’s truth.

Read my full review

[Danielle Burns · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful story, so graphic that reads like fiction but made even more amazing due to the fact that it's entirely true. Thanks must go to the author Shirley Walker and all of her extended family for sharing the intimate details of their lives from the constraints of religion against a harsh new land; from the joys of motherhood to the sorrows of war. This is our nation's history from one incredible woman's perspective so the biggest praise must go to Jessie Walker herself.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very good book. Couldnt put it down. Accounts the terrible toll WW1 and WW2 took on the families of the soldiers involved. It was very relevant in that many places were familiar - being set in and around Brisbane and northern NSW and speaking of the Enoggera barracks etc that still exist today. Of a similar vein to Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks.

[Ruth Bonetti · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed Waker's first book Roundabout at Bangalow more. Tense changes and the multiple generations depicted in 'Ghost' were confusingly drawn and contrasted. But the most telling part was descriptions of how families coped when the menfolk were away fighting wars, and the impact of separation and hardships on their lives.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautifully written and terribly sad story of the author’s mother-in-law and the effect of WWI and WWII on her family. The author was lucky to have letters, diaries as well as official documents to add depth and veracity to her ‘novel’ like memoir.

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my favourite book, but quite interesting. Some weird tense tricks in the prose. Finished just in time for Book Club tomorrow night.

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely amazing.

[Chris Bell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A touching story. I found it very sad in many parts and was reading it at times with tears in my eyes. Beautifully written showing the true and hidden impact of war.

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of those books I could not put down,

[Librarycambridge · Rating 5 out of 5]

A story of the home front during World War I and World War II. This is a hauntingly beautiful book. Its description of life for the wives and mothers who were left at home, and then left to pick up the pieces and navigate the trauma experienced by their beloved men upon their return from theatres of war, will tug at your heart strings. This is a book, that once read, can't be forgotten.

Rosie - Local Studies Librarian