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y separately published work icon The Return single work   novel  
Issue Details: First known date: 2014... 2014 The Return
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'Sometimes finding the courage to change a lifetime of hate comes from the most unlikely place

'The sky was darkening quickly. There were no more shadows. Everything appeared stark, like staring into the bottom of a stream. Frank cleared his throat, as if about to say something, and she swung to face him, perhaps a little too quickly, in too much anticipation … ‘He’s got no bloody idea. No bloody sense.’

'War ends and the world changes, as it always does. But hate is hard to extinguish. The scars of war are not always visible, and they don’t always fade. They haven’t for Merna Gibson and they definitely haven’t for her husband, Frank. He won’t ever forget what has been done to him and his mates. The nightmares, the pain of seeing things a person should never see, stay with him, always. The long-ago war colours their family life.

'For Merna, at home on the farm, Japan is very far away. For Frank, it isn’t far enough. But their son, Paul, doesn’t carry the same prejudices. For him, Japan is a place of possibility, a country to embrace. Father and son live worlds apart, even when at the same table. Hate and prejudice have created a gulf between the two.

When a woman comes into their son’s life, it is left to Merna to try and bridge the gap. Caught between the two men she loves she is determined to keep her family together, while everything around them keeps changing.

'A powerful story about love, hate and forgiveness that will stir your heart.' (Publication summary)

Notes

  • Dedication: For Michael
  • Epigraph:

    Blood of the Lamb. His slow feet walked him riverward, reading. Are you saved? All are washed in the blood of the lamb. God wants blood victim. Birth, hymen, martyr, war, foundation of a building, sacrifice, kidney burntooffering druids' alters. -Ulysses by James Joyce.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Sydney, New South Wales,: Hachette Australia , 2014 .
      image of person or book cover 2986288679023813605.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 289p.
      Note/s:
      • Published March 2014
      ISBN: 9780733632013

Other Formats

Works about this Work

Review : The Return Jenny Summerville , 2014 single work review
— Appears in: Good Reading , April 2014; (p. 36)

— Review of The Return Silvia Kwon , 2014 single work novel
Review : The Return Carol Middleton , 2014 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , August no. 363 2014; (p. 60)

— Review of The Return Silvia Kwon , 2014 single work novel
Well Read Katharine England , 2014 single work review
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 19 April 2014; (p. 27)

— Review of Ronan's Echo Joanne Van Os , 2014 single work novel ; The Return Silvia Kwon , 2014 single work novel
A Gentle Look at the Invisible Scars of War Dianne Dempsey , 2014 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 3-4 May 2014; (p. 36)

— Review of The Return Silvia Kwon , 2014 single work novel
A Gentle Look at the Invisible Scars of War Dianne Dempsey , 2014 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 3-4 May 2014; (p. 36)

— Review of The Return Silvia Kwon , 2014 single work novel
Well Read Katharine England , 2014 single work review
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 19 April 2014; (p. 27)

— Review of Ronan's Echo Joanne Van Os , 2014 single work novel ; The Return Silvia Kwon , 2014 single work novel
Review : The Return Carol Middleton , 2014 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , August no. 363 2014; (p. 60)

— Review of The Return Silvia Kwon , 2014 single work novel
Review : The Return Jenny Summerville , 2014 single work review
— Appears in: Good Reading , April 2014; (p. 36)

— Review of The Return Silvia Kwon , 2014 single work novel
Last amended 25 Feb 2020 16:23:08
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