Cirrus@Austlit

'Emily knows her big brother, Tom, wants to leave Hillside Farm and go overseas to the war, but Emily doesn't want him to go.

'"Everyone else is going," said Tom to Emily when their uncle was gone. "That's not a good reason," said Emily.

'The Soldier's Gift is a moving story of one family's courage and endurance during the First World War, the terrible losses at Gallipoli and a time that changed Australia forever.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'1854, the eve of the Eureka Stockade battle. Ballarat is teeming with miners and rebels, and Irish-born Fintan Donovan is fighting private battles of his own.

'I'm a daughter of my homeland.  We're Irish. It's all we need to know.'

'This isn't Ireland, Niamh.' Kilkenny Pat cut through her words. 'It's a new country.
Even the English aren't English here.'

'It is 1854 and Ballarat is teeming with miners, dreamers and rebels. On the eve of the Eureka Stockade battle, Fintan Donovan is fighting private battles of his own. Torn between his Irish upbringing and his friendship with an English boy called Matthew Ward, Fintan must make a stand. Will he be dominated by the hatreds of the old world or will he find a new way to live in the new country?

'Vivid and powerful, The Valley of Blood and Gold evokes a moment in history that is entrenched in Australian national heritage.'

Source : publisher's blurb