Cirrus@Austlit

'Growing up during World War II was tough, especially if you lived on the wrong side of the mines that divided the Silver City of Broken Hill. If you were a girl? And German? You needed plenty of spirit!
'Broken Hill had a spirit all its own: smart enough to exclude outsiders from the big bucks; strong enough to stop miners drinking beer for months when there was a point to be made; stubborn enough to force cinemas to lift their game. Tough housewives dictated the prices shops could charge. Beneath it all lay the cruelty of war. And a secret.
'Jack's Daughter is the true story of the indomitable Maisie Schuster, who struggled to escape the town, a controlling mother and, later, an alcoholic husband. Her father Jack died when Maisie was just nine, but his memory and voice remained her compass for the rest of her life.' (Publication summary)
 

'Reinhold (Jack) Schuster was an illegal German immigrant. A trained soldier in the German Armeekorps, he sat out both world wars in the Australian outback of Broken Hill. Jack's story debunks the myth that salutes the mining town as the birthplace of solidarity - by exposing divisiveness, prejudice and powerlessness.

'The only enemy attack to take place on Australian soil during World War I occurred in Broken Hill, and Jack was there to witness the mob violence that followed. He watched unionists stone the troop trains heading off to war and learned of brutality against his countrymen in the Torrens Island internment camp.

'Christine Ellis's grandfather came to life through stories told by her mother - some of which defied belief. Christine's research confirmed them. Silver Lies, Golden Truths is Jack Schuster's story. It tells of the love between a father and his young daughter, of idyllic family times, and the cruel cost of working in the mines.' (Publication summary)