Barbed wire and cherry blossoms /

Heiss, Anita, 1968-,

Barbed wire and cherry blossoms / Anita Heiss. - xxi, 264 pages ; 20 cm.

First published in Australia in 2016 by Simon & Schuster (Australia) Pty Limited.

5 August, 1944. Over 1000 Japanese soldiers break out of the No.12 Prisoner of War compound on the fringes of Cowra. In the carnage, hundreds are killed, many are recaptured, and some take their own lives rather than suffer the humiliation of ongoing defeat. But one soldier, Hiroshi, manages to escape. At nearby Erambie Station, an Aboriginal mission, Banjo Williams, father of five and proud man of his community, discovers Hiroshi, distraught and on the run. Unlike most of the townsfolk who dislike and distrust the Japanese, the people of Erambie choose compassion and offer Hiroshi refuge. Mary, Banjo's daughter, is intrigued by the softly spoken stranger, and charged with his care. For the community, life at Erambie is one of restriction and exclusion living under Acts of Protection and Assimilation, and always under the ruthless eye of the mission Manager. On top of wartime hardships, families live without basic rights. Love blossoms between Mary and Hiroshi, and they each dream of a future together. But how long can Hiroshi be hidden safely and their bond kept a secret?

9781925184853


Erambie Aboriginal Reserve (N.S.W.)--Fiction.


Prisoners of war--Japan--Fiction.
Prisoners of war--New South Wales--Cowra--Fiction.
Women, Aboriginal Australian--New South Wales--Cowra--Fiction.
Man-woman relationships--Fiction.
Romance fiction, Australian.
Prisoner-of-war escapes--New South Wales--Cowra--Fiction.
Australian fiction.
Novel--English--Australia--21st century--Texts.


Romance fiction.
Historical fiction.

823.3