| Title | : | Barbed Wire and Cherry Blossoms |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781925184846 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 264 |
| Publication | : | First published August 1, 2016 |
At nearby Erambie Aboriginal mission, Banjo Williams, father of nine and proud man of his community, discovers a distraught Hiroshi, pleading for help. The people of Erambie have seen enough death and heartache, so Banjo and the Erambie community decide to offer Hiroshi refuge.
Mary, Banjo’s daughter, recently returned from being in service in Sydney, is intrigued by the Japanese stranger, and is charged with his care. Love blossoms, but life for the community on the mission is one of restriction – living under Acts of Protection and Assimilation, and always under the watchful eye of the mission manager. In wartime Australia, the children are terrified of air raids, but their parents fear a life without rights. And for Mary and Hiroshi, there is much in their way.
Mary is forbidden under the Act, and by her own father, to marry Hiroshi, so together they plot their own escape from the mission. But solidarity in the community is eroding and trouble is brewing.
A story about a love that transcends all boundaries, from one of Australia’s best loved authors
Barbed Wire and Cherry Blossoms Reviews
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The period that BARBED WIRE AND CHERRY BLOSSOMS covers is the year between the Cowra breakout in 1944 and the end of WWII in 1945. I am surprised how few Australians have even heard of the breakout, our family visited the Japanese Gardens on the site a few years ago and it is so peaceful and beautiful that it is hard to imagine the events in this book taking place. But they did. During the story author Anita Heiss highlights the attitude of the Australian Government and, sadly, many Australian citizens, towards the Aboriginal people; along with the conditions they lived under. When Banjo finds the escaped Japanese prisoner, Hiroshi, cowering on the mission he argues with the other Elders that the community should hide the man as they have something in common; Aboriginals are fighting the Australian Government and so are the Japanese. So that makes them allies rather than enemies. I loved this reasoning and can really understand where Banjo is coming from. Aware that not all of the community would agree, the Elders decide that only a few will be in on the secret and they will hide him in the Mission air raid shelter as it never gets used. Banjo’s oldest daughter Mary is chosen to take food to Hiroshi each day as she is well loved and no one would suspect her of harbouring an escapee. The unfolding story is riveting.
Banjo’s family and fellow community members do not live a life of freedom – they are bound by law to live on the Mission. The Mission Manager, called King Billy by the community Elders, is a white man assigned by the Government, to dole out food and water rations, and give permission for travel and for marriages. It is just dreadful that this happened –the Aboriginals lived under the ever present fear that rations and permissions could be severely curtailed as punishment or to ensure good behaviour. Permission was needed to travel outside the mission to access work, shops, medical facilities and even the local cinema – with many places having separate sections for the Aboriginals so they didn’t mix with other Australians. In fact at one stage it the Mission community realise that the POWs at the local Cowra POW camp had better conditions than the mission. Horrible! Yet for all of that, the people of Erambie Station are resilient, upbeat and protective of their own. And young Mary is very protected by her family; except when she goes into the shelter to take what little food they can spare to Hiroshi. Here she is away from watchful eyes and is free to talk to him and they share with each other all manner of things from their separate cultures – and a love of literature and poetry. Gradually this talk develops into friendship and then into a love that must be kept as hidden as the main in the shelter.
BARBED WIRE AND CHERRY BLOSSOMS looks at the appalling lack human rights and also explores two different cultures and how the government policies of the time affected them both in different ways – the story also demonstrates how a community of people showed more compassion than their own government showed to them. -
Nestled between the pages of a tender love story that plays out between Hiroshi , a Japanese soldier and Mary, a young indigenous woman, is the powerful exploration of a part of Australia’s World War II history. Anita Heiss, an accomplished Australian author, tackles love, war, racism and compassion in her stunning new novel, Barbed Wire and Cherry Blossoms.
Heiss examines a slice of history that played out during World War II in New South Wales. A major breakout at a Prisoner of War compound occurred in the August of 1944. While many soldiers were recaptured or sadly committed suicide, a handful of prisoners managed to remain at large. Hiroshi, a university educated, gentle young Japanese man, is one such escapee that makes a desperate bid for freedom. He ends up on the outskirts of the main town of Cowra, on a local aboriginal mission named Erambie Station. Here, he finds acceptance and sanctuary in the form of Aboriginal elders, who decide to save his life and hide him in a bunker on the mission. When the daughter of a prominent elder is sent to check on Hiroshi and provide him with his daily food allowance, an unlikely relationship forms. The two begin to exchange anecdotes on their differing cultures and the cruel polices that have prevented both from leading a free life. A friendship eventually blossoms into love. However, Hiroshi and Mary know that even if the war ends, it is very unlikely that they will be able to live as they desire.
Anita Heiss has brought a little known chapter in Australia’s World War II history to life for the reader in her evocative novel, Barbed Wire and Cherry Blossoms. For me, the strength of this book lies in the exploration of the hidden history of the POW camp. Coming to the novel with a lack of knowledge of both internment camps for POW soldiers in the war, as well as next to no understanding of aboriginal missions, made this novel all the more enthralling. Heiss has clearly embarked on a meticulous level of research to build her story upon. I feel the research simply shines through her writing and the narrative as a whole.
The pleasure that I gained from reading Barbed Wire and Cherry Blossoms came chiefly from the principal characters Hiroshi and Mary. I loved gentle Hiroshi, the Japanese soldier, saved and hidden by the aboriginal elders on the mission. Hiroshi shows the reader a very personal side to World War II, the interned Japanese perspective. I thoroughly enjoyed the moments where Hiroshi shared his rich culture and general views on life with Mary. In Mary, whom I also loved, I gleaned an understanding of the aboriginal culture, as well as the appalling lack of general human rights in this era. What also compelled me to turn pages was the fragile relationship that developed between Hiroshi and Mary as the book progresses. To me, it sent the message that love knows no boundaries in the face of war and adversity.
There is much that can be taken away from the experience of reading Barbed Wire and Cherry Blossoms. As well as being a tender love story, it is a fine exploration of two different cultures and the confronting policies of the time. The novel also offers a lesson in the art of compassion, in the face of hopelessness. This is a story that needs to be told and I am so glad to have had the opportunity to do so, through the writing of Anita Heiss, a gifted Australian storyteller.
https://mrsbbookreviews.wordpress.com -
Loving historical reads and the fact that Cowra is only a few hours from where I live, I have always had an interest in the Cowra Breakout and that time period. The love story of Mary & Hiroshi was slow and gradual and I just loved it. With Mary sneaking meals to Hiroshi who had escaped from the prison camp and was hiding in a bomb shelter, knowing that their love was probably doomed from the start didn't stop me from being in their corner! The time period has been well researched and I really enjoyed this great read.
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Set in Cowra New South Wales during World War II, Barbed Wire and Cherry Blossoms by Anita Heiss was a pleasant love story. Love takes all shapes and sizes and I've read plenty of variations but this novel was unique in that the blossoming romance was between Hiroshi an escaped Japanese prisoner of war, and Mary a 17 year old aboriginal girl on Erambie Mission. Having found Hiroshi, Mary's father hid him in their air raid shelter and committed to saving him whilst the locals were baying for blood. Each evening Mary was sent to share the family's meagre rations with Hiroshi and during the months he remained hidden they came to understand much about each other, their cultures and living conditions.
In this way I too learnt about the Japanese culture and their firmly instilled attitude "it is better to die with honor than to live with shame". It was unfathomable to me that Hiroshi's father should instruct him 'If you go to war, please die'. Similarly, I came to learn the mindset of "white Australia" and gained a greater understanding of the difficulties experienced by Australian aboriginals in those years. In NSW, the Aborigines Protection Act (1909) had stripped aboriginals of many of their human rights and the author helped the reader to see the impact of this on the every day life of Mary, her family and other residents of Erambie.
Whilst I enjoyed the story and the lessons I learnt, the third person narrative kept me slightly detatched from the characters. Whereas I could imagine some of the heartbreaking scenes I didn't feel them and this stopped me from rating higher than I did. Still an enjoyable read and I look forward to discussing at book club. -
A thought provoking novel that makes me as an Australian reflect upon our difficult past as a nation. Indigenous ways of being was interwoven throughout the storyline of the Cowra breakout. Very clever and worth a read.
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A great Aussie story that is well worth a read for anyone. Beautifully conceived, researched and written. Such a great premise. Wartime Australia, Japanese POW escape contrasted to the lives of everyday Aboriginal families.
It is written with a gentle hand, more for reflection and healing than admonishment.
Must read more of Anita's work. -
Presented empathetically and with much historical consideration (including importantly Heiss' own family recollection), Barbed Wire and Cherry Blossoms is what makes Anita Heiss brilliant.
Barbed Wire and Cherry Blossoms explores the aftermath of the Cowra Breakout in 1944 during which over 1000 Japanese soldiers being held as prisoners of war plotted and carried out a prison break. Many perished, were recaptured, or in an act of pride took their own lives in the attempt, however one man, Hiroshi, managed to escape and was taken in by an Aboriginal man, Banjo Williams, and his family. Knowing what it was like to live an existence of restrictions and exclusion from the general population due to the White Australia policy of the time, Williams and his family, notably daughter Mary, work hard to afford Hiroshi as many dignities (and we're talking absolute basics here—food, water, bathing) as is manageable while keeping his existence at the Mission secret lest they be caught harbouring a prison escapee.
At first, the romance between Hiroshi and Mary is slow in the sense of Heiss' very measured storytelling. Their attraction to one another is evident very quickly however with many cultural and indeed legal barriers in play (Aboriginals having no rights at that time and Hiroshi being an escaped prisoner of war) it was important to the believability of the story for Heiss to take this approach. Though at it's essence this is a love story, it's not a 'throw-caution-to-the-wind' romantic situation. That Heiss presents the enormity of the challenges Hiroshi and Mary faced without skimming over the less 'glamourous' aspects of their relationship yet still presenting the beauty of their romance is a testament to her storytelling abilities.
Heiss seamlessly weaves in depictions of the landscape, the community of the Mission, and the characters in a way that is truly encapsulating. It's hard to shake off the story once you've read it and I expect this will be a novel that stays with me for some time. Throughout, there is an astonishing amount of research that Heiss has included from Aboriginal elders that adds to the depth of the storytelling and the characters.
Barbed Wire and Cherry Blossoms is at heart a story of love: Hiroshi and Mary's love for one another, the unconditional love from family, the love Aboriginal people have for the land, and the restorative power that true love of any kind can have on the human soul. -
I've seen Barbed Wires and Cherry Blossoms in the shops recently because of its gorgeous cover. To be honest though, while I've read Anita's previous contempory novels this one didn't really appeal to me. It wasn't until a friend lent it to me that I gave it ago. And I'm so glad I did because the story of Mary and Hirosho is unlike any love story I've every read. Set in Cowra 1944, it's also a lesson about the realities for the Indigenous Australians all those years ago and their role in both World Wars, the treatment of Japanese POWS and most importantly, humanity. With so many issues being tackled, Anita's writing is simple and powerful, bringing tears to my eyes at the end.
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A book which lacked sophistication and depth. More a chick flick book than a novel of substance. Some interesting foundation in history but didn’t take full advantage of that potential subject-matter.
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This won't be easy to review. At first glance it is just a historical romance. The setting is one that doesn't get written about enough, life in an Aboriginal mission. The protagonist is Mary, just 17 years old and surrounded by an extended network of family and neighbours. The love interest is an escaped Japanese POW.
So a romance, a coming of age story, one of those clash of cultures tales...not quite! Because for a start Mary's family does not fit the trope. They don't misunderstand her. They don't attempt to control her or bring her into line. They don't hate, ostracise or even betray Hiroshi. They seem unusually wise in their interpersonal relationships, they work hard to be politically savvy (which at first I thought was a stretch given how hard their lives would have been then I considered that sometimes ignorance is the luxury of the privileged and began to wonder). The book is sometimes heavy-handed with the critical politics, having characters converse about the injustice of their situation constantly and in detail (somehow it is still a positive book).
I wonder if that is because as white Australians we have been notoriously slow over they years (and continue to be) and have preferred to trivialise and erase Aboriginal experience of injustice (Heiss would be more than aware of this). In any case it was broken up with enough light-hearted relating to not be a major flaw. I loved Mary's mother, although she is a bit too-good-to-be-true (but I loved her so I can deal with that). I didn't much like any of the male characters in the book and the way they threw their weight around, I thought the gender in the book was one of the least enjoyable things and I couldn't work out whether Heiss meant for that to have a subtle critical shading over it or whether she accepts that view of men and (heter0)sexuality.
I hated King Billie, but we are meant to. He has no redeeming features but I didn't want him to. He fit with the simplicity of the book and even he was treated with less than the bitterness he might have deserved from a clearly disapproving author. The movement seems to be toward a naming of experience and a hope for reconciliation. The characters live in a world before Aboriginal people were even allowed to vote or make basic choices of where to live, work or how to look after their families (google "basics card" if you want to know how some people these days wish to turn the clock back). They don't want to fight anyone, hurt anyone, harm anyone but they are pretty pissed off by the status quo. They want freedom, dignity and prosperity and point out that even prisoners have better access to these than they do. The extent of their poverty and lack of choice is stark and something we do need as a society to face (instead of figuring we "fixed it" and can forget it ever happened).
Having said all that read the book! If you can tell me what purpose the epilogue serves then you are one up on me. But a worthwhile and flowing read overall. -
Far too few Australians are aware of the Cowra breakout. It lacks the simplistic 'goodies vs baddies' we prefer in our history, and raises uncomfortable questions about confinement, racism and patriotism. But it's not only a really important part of our history, it is a fascinating story. In Barbed Wire and Cherry Blossoms, Heiss explores the dynamics of the break out, alongside the dynamics in the neighbouring Erambie Mission Wiradjuri community. Heiss weaves the issues of the communities together through dialogue and plot, exploring the prejudices and dilemmas of the locals.
The book is also a romance and Heiss effectively portrays the growing relationship between two shy, time-limited, and culturally reticent people. This plotline veers a little between believable and less so, but Heiss remains true to the emotional realities of the situation. Romance is not my thing, and this part of the book didn't hugely engage me, but I appreciated the historical fiction of it all.
*2019 Reading Challenge #44. Read a book during the season it is set in -
I found the premise of the book a bit far fetched - one of the Japanese POWs who escaped during the Cowra break-out is hidden in a bomb shelter by a family of local aborigines, he is visited at night by the 17 year old Mary who brings food, water and news, they converse (he speaks English well) and they fall in love.
But I think the book is not so much about the blossoming romance, but more about exposing how Aboriginals were treated during WWII, with confinement, restriction in employment and education, rationing and lack of opportunities to live anywhere else (unless they get a certificate to declare they are no longer an Aboriginal or if a woman they marry a white man). Also described is the lack of rights of returned indigenous soldiers, their respect to others who also lack equality and an interesting sharing of cultural appreciation of nature and the land.
The book is one that should be read by Australians. -
A slow, tender novel that focuses on events following the Cowra Breakout in NSW in 1944, Barbed Wire and Cherry Blossoms is about love, crossing boundaries, and home. Hiroshi and Mary’s story unfolds against the background of genuine fear and ignorance, racial fear-mongering and the White Australia policy, and resentment and bitterness. These were tough enough times for Hiroshi and Mary without cupid’s arrow entering the field.
I had little knowledge of the Cowra breakout before this book, so the historical events were of great interest to me. It’s easy in hindsight to be angry about how things were handled at the time, from the breakout itself to equally disturbing actions like interning Italians, restricting Indigenous peoples’ rights, and the White Australia policy itself. Yet, I’m not sure that anger is what Anita Heiss wants (forgive me, Anita if I am wrong here). I think she wants readers like me to become more aware of how history has been recorded, and some of the deeper, buried truths that need uncovering, understanding, recognition and change.
Above all, this is a love story, and leaving history aside, the story is beautifully rendered and had me in tears by the end. -
Barbed Wire and Cherry Blossoms was such a meaningful novel, clearly depicting certain race and cultural relations within Australia during the WWII era, against the backdrop of a gentle love story.
Anita Heiss has done a marvelous job with this novel. There are a lot of challenges posed to the reader and many uncomfortable truths, but her style of writing is entirely non confronting and culturally informative. I learnt a lot from this novel, far more than I did from any Australian history lessons back at school. It made for an excellent bookclub choice as we all had much to discuss and contemplate after reading.
I highly recommend this as a novel all Australians should read as it's message of tolerance and love is one that could benefit us all in the modern era. It's also highly suitable for teens and would introduce them to an important episode of Australian history that they are unlikely to learn about in school.
Well done Anita Heiss, very well done! #AWW2016 -
Historical fiction about a specific chapter in Australian history and World War II, whilst also highlighting the impacts of colonialism, and policies of xenophobia and racism in our collective history too.
Hiroshi is a Japanese solider held in the POW camp in Cowra, NSW, and after enduring the harsh deprivation of war in New Guinea, finds himself part of a breakout of his fellow compatriots into the unknown Australian land and community. Mary is the young daughter of the Aboriginal family that find Hiroshi, and decide to keep him safe in their shelter on their land. Mary is chosen to take food and water, and occasional clothes down to Hiroshi as he is hidden.
As a bond forms between Mary and Hiroshi, they also share their own cultural experiences. Having the lens brought up to the segregation of Aboriginal communities, the slavery and wage theft, the enforced poverty, harsh rationing, and tight ruling through Hiroshi's understanding is powerful. The insight that the feared and hated Japanese soliders were treated far superior to the First Nations people on their own land, is stark.
I loved the inclusion of language throughout, being Wiradjuri and Japanese words in conversation and descriptions.
The POW camp and the breakout are parts of Australian history I haven't come across before, and this story managed to also give insight into that of the Aboriginal oppression and policing in a rich character form, through the Williams family. -
This was a really easy read, I think perhaps because I read so much dense non-fiction. Not my usual fare when it comes to fiction either (more sci-fi horror for me) but having read
Anita Heiss's
Am I Black Enough For You?, and hearing her talk at Avid Reader about this book, I really wanted to read it. I'm usually not that interested in romance but that was a part of this book that I ended up being interested in, simply because I wanted a happy ending. The bits that I was interested in were the historical and cultural commentaries which were also there. I think Anita wrote a really great book that has a lot of different elements happening in it that will appeal to a wide range of people. -
Abandoning this as I'm not finding it engaging enough.
I do love the historical setting around the little known Cowra outbreak of Japanese POWs with the intersection of the struggles of an Aboriginal family but unfortunately, the dialogues and love story feel forced and too unrealistic to me.
In general, there's far too much explaining of everyone's emotions. I don't need to have explained to me that the situation of hiding a Japanese POW during WW2 by an Aboriginal family is a scary and tense secret that brings terrible consequences if discovered. I can gather as much.
People seem to love it but it's not for me. (I'm actually really disappointed because I had high hopes for this one, having loved Anita Heiss' anthology "
Growing Up Aboriginal in Australia".) -
This was an absolutely charming read about a time in Australian history I wasn't even aware of, the Japanese POW camp breakout in Cowra. The warmth of Heiss's writing translates into her characters, especially the main three characters of the Williams family but also into Hiroshi.
Easy to read, we mostly see the world through the eyes of Mary, the eldest Williams child. The love of her family and the community is strong but as is the discrimination and policies of a White Australia. With very little action, tension is built around the threat of discovery, the story woven with a sharing of culture and land.
I found myself devastated at the end, though there was no other ending for Hiroshi and Mary that could have occurred. -
This was a fascinating insight into the plight of the indigenous Australian communities living on mission stations during World War 2. The story centres around the Cowra breakout of the Japanese POWs and what eventuates when the Aboriginal community harbour one of the Japanese soldiers. I learnt alot about not only the Aboriginals of that time but also what it meant to be a Japanese soldier, their sense of honour and duty to the Emperor. I did feel at times that the author had an agenda to push (she is of indigenous descent) but the information given and the story line far outweighed this so hence the four star rating.
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This book covered a period of Australian history I didn’t know much about. I had never heard of the Costa breakout until this book.
I liked how the book told a different perspective of the war. I didn’t like the ending though - maybe I am just a romantic that wanted them both to be single and able to be together. -
my heart was not ready for the end :,,(
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Story about a unique time and place in history. This is one of those stories about place, time and the day-to-day lives in both ordinary and extraordinary circumstances.
I really appreciated that the ending was realistic and that it stayed true to the time and place. -
Barbed Wire and Cherry Blossoms is a slow-moving, tender love story by Anita Heiss - Author. The story is set around the events of 5 August, 1944, when over 1000 Japanese soldiers (prisoners of war) escape from their compound near Cowra. It is a cataclysmic event - hundreds are killed or commit suicide rather than face recapture. One soldier - Hiroshi - finds his way to Erambie Station, an Aboriginal mission, and hides under the verandah of Banjo Williams. When he is discovered, Banjo and his family decide to keep him hidden and safe, and to feed and care for him until they can decide what to do. Banjo's oldest daughter, Mary, is given the task of seeing to Hiroshi's care, and through their regular, daily meetings, the two begin to fall in love. But their dreams of a future together are threatened by their forbidden love and Hiroshi's fugitive status.
This is a moving story that confronts the moral decisions around several historical events. Firstly, we are given the facts of the war from Hiroshi's perspective - and he was, of course, the enemy. But he was also a man, a son, a soldier wanting to do his duty for his country. Hiroshi heralds from Kochi-ken in Shikoku, an area in which I lived for almost five years, so I could readily identify with his memories of his homeland. Anita uses Japanese language, customs and stories to supplement the character of Hiroshi and to bring him alive in the narrative. Different people in the book have various opinions about the 'enemy', about the nature of the Japanese, and about how they should be treated, which allows a compassionate rendering of his position. We are also given some insight into the Japanese mindset (particularly at that time) of honour, duty and sacrifice, of the humiliation of defeat, and of death rather than surrender.
The second issue that Anita addresses is the living conditions and circumstances of Indigenous people in the 1940's. At that time, many were forced to live on Aboriginal missions, under the 'protection' (and restrictive laws) of Acts of Protection and Assimilation - a hard mission manager was responsible for doling out rations, and for sanctioning travel and marriage and work permits. The irony of the situation is that while Hiroshi had been imprisoned in the Camp, his food, shelter and conditions were by and large much better than those experienced by local Indigenous people. And once he was in hiding, it was those locals who provided him with safety and nourishment, at the risk of themselves being discovered and punished.
Anita also explores the larger argument of Aboriginal men being firstly unable (not allowed to enlist) to fight for their country, and then - when recruiters were getting desperate for more soldiers - being encouraged to do so, as long as they could say they were partly white. The whole concept of 'country' and belonging, and of white men fighting for freedom and equality, while Indigenous people still were not granted those rights (of freedom or equality, or even of owning their own land) is heart-breaking as it plays out amongst one ordinary family during an extraordinary time.
Exacting research is evident in this book, and while it is a work of fiction, much of it is fact-based. It is a celebration of love over adversity, but is also realistic and raw in its depiction of the rules and conditions under which people lived at that time. I found it quite enlightening, and although it is an adult book, I would recommend it to YA readers too for its addressing of issues of race and belonging set in a historical context, bundled up in a love story to which all young people could identify. -
Book blurb…
5 August, 1944: Over 1000 Japanese soldiers attempt to 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 imprisoned, and some take their own lives rather than suffer the humiliation of ongoing defeat. But one soldier, Hiroshi, determined to avoid either fate, manages to escape.
At nearby Erambie Aboriginal mission, Banjo Williams, father of nine and proud man of his community, discovers a distraught Hiroshi pleading for help. The people of Erambie have seen enough death and heartache, so Banjo and the Erambie community decide to offer Hiroshi refuge.
Mary, Banjo’s daughter, recently returned from being in service in Sydney, is intrigued by the Japanese stranger, and is charged with his care. Love blossoms, but life for the community on the mission is one of restriction – living under Acts of Protection and Assimilation, and always under the watchful eye of the mission manager. In wartime Australia, the children are terrified of air raids, but their parents fear a life without rights. And for Mary and Hiroshi, there is much in their way.
Mary is forbidden under the Act, and by her own father, to marry Hiroshi, so together they plot their own escape from the mission. But solidarity in the community is eroding and trouble is brewing.
My thoughts…
I enjoyed this book very much - from the tightly-woven plot set in war-time Cowra to the portrayal of two beautiful, yet vulnerable characters of the fall-in-love-with type. Whilst this is fiction, the narrative seemed so authentic and the characters and the harsh environment so real there were moments I came close to tears. I loved both Mary and Hiroshi. This story touched me in ways I never expected.
A wonderful tale of enduring love that will tug at your heartstrings. -
This is a special book.
As a historiographical novel it begins with Hiroshi's panicked escape from an Australian Prisoner of War camp as part of the infamous Cowra Breakout of 1944.
As the hunt for Japanese escapees intensifies, Hiroshi finds refuge at Erambie Aboriginal Station. Mary, a young Wiradjuri woman, is given responsibility for sneaking meals into the air raid shelter where Hiroshi is being kept hidden.
In Mary and Hiroshi's brief daily encounters they come to know and love one another.
The boundaries of this sweet, gentle and clandestine love story are defined by an inherently racist and discriminatory social climate governed by fear and sanctioned politically by the Aborigines (sic) Protection Act and the White Australia Policy.
As Mary's family grapple with the decision to care for and protect Hiroshi, the extent of white paternalistic control over their own lives is revealed.
'Barbed Wire and Cherry Blossoms' serves a didactic purpose. Heiss's accessible prose guides the reader to question the common sense way race, as an arbitrary classification, functioned (and functions) in the allocation of power.
As a layered narrative it provides entry points for those not so familiar with the racialised dynamics so foundational to Australia's establishment and maintenance as a settler colonial nation.
For those that are more familiar with this history, there is pleasure in reading the names on the page of well known families and Aboriginal activists from the south east coast of Australia.
This story is complex yet accessible and informative. It's also deeply affective. -
Barbed Wire and Cherry Blossoms by Anita Heiss is so beautifully written.
Set on the outskirts of Cowra on nearby Erambie Station which is an Aboriginal Mission.
Banjo Williams discovers Hiroshi, a Japanese soldier distraught and on the run. Banjo takes Hiroshi in offering him refuge on his land sheltering from harm and hiding him on his property.
Mary, Banjo's daughter is set the task of delivering food to the stranger in secret darkness only to find she is intrigued by the softly spoken stranger, Hiroshi and day by day dreams of his homeland, Japan filled with cherry blossoms in Springtime and of a life together.
A discovery of different cultures with some of the same rules.
Barbed Wire and Cherry Blossoms a new heart-wrenching, emotional read by Anita Heiss will have you tearing at your heart strings.
I highly recommend this book, just couldn't put it down. A real page-turner with words flowing out easily and endlessly.
I easily read it in one weekend. So easy and enjoyable to read.
It's the first time I've read anything by Anita Heiss and I found this to be an incredibly beautiful story. -
Anita Heiss expertly crafts a deeply touching love story of an escaped prisoner of war, Hiroshi, with a young Aboriginal woman, Mary. Set in the closing days of the Second World War and in the aftermath of the Cowra breakout, this book exposes the tightly-held and deeply divisive and racist views that Australia has been built on and enshrined in the various Acts of Protection and White Australia Policies.
What I love about Anita's writing is that it doesn't tip-toe around these issues, but at the same time assumes the reader just needs a chance to acquaint themselves with the truth of history to understand the deep injustices. As always, you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.
Books like this one should be on all reading lists for Australian history. -
This was an interesting story about a love affair between a Japanese POW, escaped from the internment camp at Cowra, NSW, and an Aboriginal woman, whose family hid him in a bunker. At times I felt the tone was a bit patronising, it was clear that the author wanted to educate the reader, and I would have enjoyed a more subtle approach, with stronger emphasis on the story. Having said that, I do come away from the novel with a greater appreciation of the appalling treatment of our indigenous population; the POWs lived in better conditions.
