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The Battle of Messines Road
My war was a good war, as was the next one. Your father’s is a bad one. But in the end it makes no difference. It’s all war. It’s always the same.’
A man at the end of his life, trying to make sense of war, for a boy at the start of his. The story of how these unlikely friends find solace and together fight what they see as the unfairness of it all. A fight that culminates in a series of battles; one on Messines Road and one on Anzac Day.
Told both through the eyes of 10-year-old Zac, living in 1968 Wellington and a 21-year-old World War I soldier, The Battle of Messines Road is a coming-of-age story, a World War I diary and a novel about friendship and families. It is a book of how two wars, 50 years apart, changed New Zealand and its people.
With the centenary of WWI now in progress The Battle of Messines Road is a chance to get a fresh perspective on a period of New Zealand’s history which is presently in the spotlight. The combination of historical document, carefully researched history and fiction gives readers a unique insight into WWI and the nature of war alongside an exciting story line. The two intertwined narratives will hold a wide-range of reader interest and the perspective of 10-year-old Zac will capture the attention of the young adult market while still appealing to more mature readers.
A man at the end of his life, trying to make sense of war, for a boy at the start of his. The story of how these unlikely friends find solace and together fight what they see as the unfairness of it all. A fight that culminates in a series of battles; one on Messines Road and one on Anzac Day.
Told both through the eyes of 10-year-old Zac, living in 1968 Wellington and a 21-year-old World War I soldier, The Battle of Messines Road is a coming-of-age story, a World War I diary and a novel about friendship and families. It is a book of how two wars, 50 years apart, changed New Zealand and its people.
With the centenary of WWI now in progress The Battle of Messines Road is a chance to get a fresh perspective on a period of New Zealand’s history which is presently in the spotlight. The combination of historical document, carefully researched history and fiction gives readers a unique insight into WWI and the nature of war alongside an exciting story line. The two intertwined narratives will hold a wide-range of reader interest and the perspective of 10-year-old Zac will capture the attention of the young adult market while still appealing to more mature readers.
348 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 29, 2016
The difference in language between a 10 year old boy in 1968, and the beautiful and poetic hand of the WWI war diary were a clever contrast. I often find that in novels where story lines run concurrently, that I favour one story significantly over the other. This never occurred during this book, and this is to the credit of the author - keeping the story as told by Zac in a more punchy and contemporary feel (as told in 1968), and ensuring that the sometimes tougher prose of the diary was kept to a certain length when required. A really well crafted read.
January 7, 2016
Having been an Evening Post paper boy myself in the 70s/80s this one appealed to me for both the modern story as well as the War Diary.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews