Sometimes, publishers seem to do their authors no favours at all. Their blurb with its war story scenario and its “secrets”. “risking it all” and “dangerous territory” gives no hint of what the story is really about. Blurbs gushing about ‘secrets’ are usually referring to much more banal matters than the dark side of war: pacifism; same-sex relationships, war crimes by your own side, and desertion. Based on that deceptive blurb I had made assumptions about Bodies of Men that turned out to be wrong. So I’m grateful to Sue for her review, and I urge you to read it. (See https://whisperinggums.com/2019/06/07/nigel-featherstone-bodies-of-men-bookrevie...
So, what is the book about? First and foremost, it’s the love story of two soldiers, beginning with the tender affection of young people who do not really know what it might mean. But it’s more than that because the novel explores what masculinity is, in a scenario that begins by testing bravery under fire on the battlefield but moves on to testing courage in different ways.
William Marsh (at least initially) follows the script laid down by his bombastic father. His family is North Shore Sydney; his father is an MP; and William has been brought up to be part of a military tradition. And James Kelly also follows the script laid down by his socialist, pacifist widowed mother, keeping aloof from the rush to enlist, at least in the beginning. It is the cowardly behaviour of other people that makes him decide to enlist after all.

To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2019/06/30/bodies-of-men-by-nigel-featherstone/ ( )