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The daughter of Mars by Thomas Keneally
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The daughter of Mars (edition 2012)

by Thomas Keneally

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6793433,643 (3.98)216
"From the acclaimed author of Schindlers List comes the epic, unforgettable story of two sisters whose lives are transformed by the cataclysm of the First World War. In 1915, Naomi and Sally Durance, two spirited Australian sisters, join the war effort as nurses, escaping the confines of their fathers farm and carrying a guilty secret with them. Though they are used to tending the sick, nothing could have prepared them for what they confront, first on a hospital ship near Gallipoli, then on the Western Front. Yet amid the carnage, the sisters become the friends they never were at home and find themselves courageous in the face of extreme danger and also the hostility from some on their own side. There is great bravery, humor, and compassion, too, and the inspiring example of the remarkable women they serve alongside. In France, where Naomi nurses in a hospital set up by the eccentric Lady Tarlton while Sally works in a casualty clearing station, each meets an exceptional man: the kind of men for whom they might give up some of their newfound independence if only they all survive. At once vast in scope and extraordinarily intimate, The Daughters of Mars brings World War I vividly to life from an uncommon perspective. Thomas Keneally has written a remarkable novel about suffering and transcendence, despair and triumph, and the simple acts of decency that make us human even in a world gone mad"--… (more)
Member:cushlareads
Title:The daughter of Mars
Authors:Thomas Keneally
Info:North Sydney, N.S.W. : Vintage Books, 2012.
Collections:Read
Rating:*****
Tags:None

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The Daughters of Mars by Thomas Keneally

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Showing 1-5 of 34 (next | show all)
A great and flowing emotional read. I will have to chase up more of Keneally's books. I like his style. ( )
  SteveMcI | Jan 28, 2022 |
I really enjoyed this one. World War One through the eyes of sisters, both nurses, who leave Australia to assist in the war effort. It opened my eyes to a bit of history that I was unfamiliar with. ( )
  readingjag | Nov 29, 2021 |
Let's get this out first, and I'm speaking to all authors now: quotation-mark-less dialogue is hard to read, confusing, and puts unwanted distance between the reader and the character. The reader doesn't "hear" the character's words as clearly without quotation marks. Leaving out the marks doesn't make you cool; it only makes you affected. STOP IT.

The story was fascinating, a deep-dive look into the history of nurses during World War I. The scope was world-wide but had enough characters and story lines to make it a pleasant and engrossing read.

I don't like the ending, which is "clever" and "literary." You're the author. The reader is not meant to write the story. You do. Pick an ending and stick with it.

The reading was difficult, because the writing is at times bad: badly structured, too formal, with odd and awkward syntax at times.

The story was twice as long as it should have been, even for an epic tale such as this; there's no reason there should have been two parts where one would have been better. A more compact story would have sped things along a little for the reader, whereas the book dragged in parts. ( )
  ChayaLovesToRead | Jul 18, 2020 |
I wanted to love this book as much as I loved Schindler's List. However, the author made it impossible to do so. Firstly, there were no quotation marks. I should have stopped right there in chapter 1, because half of the time I had no idea who was saying what; even if it was dialogue or not. Secondly, all of the characters were distant and remote. This reader couldn't care for any of them. Thirdly, was choose your own from among several endings! Who does that in an adult novel? This was a DNF for me, as I read 300/529 pages and just couldn't justify the time to finish this book. I also found there was more traveling in the book than actual hospital activity. ( )
  Tess_W | Apr 13, 2020 |
For the intense depiction of the horrors inflicted on the world by the Germans during World War I,
The Daughters of Mars deserves a full Five Stars.

"But once you become a soldier, the whole point is war.
The whole point of it is finding how you manage yourself in war."

For the disappointing and phony ending, it barely rates One. ( )
  m.belljackson | Apr 11, 2020 |
Showing 1-5 of 34 (next | show all)
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Dedication
To the two nurses,
Judith and Jane
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It was said around the valley that the two Durance girls went off but just the one bothered to come back.
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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
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Wikipedia in English (1)

"From the acclaimed author of Schindlers List comes the epic, unforgettable story of two sisters whose lives are transformed by the cataclysm of the First World War. In 1915, Naomi and Sally Durance, two spirited Australian sisters, join the war effort as nurses, escaping the confines of their fathers farm and carrying a guilty secret with them. Though they are used to tending the sick, nothing could have prepared them for what they confront, first on a hospital ship near Gallipoli, then on the Western Front. Yet amid the carnage, the sisters become the friends they never were at home and find themselves courageous in the face of extreme danger and also the hostility from some on their own side. There is great bravery, humor, and compassion, too, and the inspiring example of the remarkable women they serve alongside. In France, where Naomi nurses in a hospital set up by the eccentric Lady Tarlton while Sally works in a casualty clearing station, each meets an exceptional man: the kind of men for whom they might give up some of their newfound independence if only they all survive. At once vast in scope and extraordinarily intimate, The Daughters of Mars brings World War I vividly to life from an uncommon perspective. Thomas Keneally has written a remarkable novel about suffering and transcendence, despair and triumph, and the simple acts of decency that make us human even in a world gone mad"--

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Haiku summary
Two Australian
sisters live through the horrors
of the First World War.
(passion4reading)

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