Goodreads asked Alan Watchman:

Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

Alan Watchman While researching family history and stories about WWI I found very little information about Australian nurses. Several well known nurses have received recognition, but most 'ordinary' nurses have been forgotten yet they served their country just as men wielding rifles fixed with bayonets. Nurses are unsung heroes of wars because they do their job efficiently and effectively without much support. I thought a story about one Australian nurse could remind people of the circumstances under which nurses worked. I wanted a romantic story because many young nurses found husbands during war and I wanted to tell that story too. A soldier with a past filled with personal conflicts and tragedy is a main character and as becomes a casualty of war he also struggles to understand himself and how he feels for a woman.

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