Prepare for broken heartstrings.
This was a slow starter for me. But once it got going, heartstring after heartstring was tugged at, some broken all together.
Galipolli Street is a sweeping romance set amongst the turmoil of multi-generational wars, bloodshed, laughter, tears, heartbreak and reconciliation.
Following the lives of first the parents and then their children as each embarked on their own journey of war and life was an absolute privilege.
Mary-Anne O'Connor has written an incredibly beautiful book covering an area of Australian history that remains relatively untouched and she does it with poise and elegance.
The characters are well formed, fragile, funny and beautifully charming, all in their own individual ways. Veronica O'Shay is probably my favourite of the bunch, followed closely by Jack Murphy, I fail, at this moment to recall any other characters in any book with such depth and well-rounded histories.
This book had me laughing, crying and hoping in various stages and degrees throughout. I loved it in so many different ways that I'm not able to adequately explain how truly excellent it was.
Samantha, 30/03/2015
Loved it!
I loved ‘Gallipoli Street’! It’s everything that I look for in a book! Being proud to be an Australian girl myself, with a love of our land and the spirit of our people, I found all those lovely references there! The colourful characters, the mateship and special bonds within each family, the struggles of individuals through traumatic times. Mary Anne has cleverly intertwined three families’ experiences through two world wars bringing out the passions, the love and the humour amongst the tragedies and suffering. Didn’t want it to end…
Linda, 16/03/2015
