On an Iron Cliff

Title: The Wish Child Author: Chidgey, Catherine, 1970- Publication detail:  London : Chatto & Windus, an imprint of Vintage, 2017 The wish child is a remarkable story told through multiple viewpoints. The story moves between a cold harsh propaganda and ethereal dreamlike sequences depending on the narrator - the lead chracters and the wish child. The wish child is a spirit presence, watches over Germany. He watches as Sieglinde and Erich find escape in an abandoned theatre in Berlin. Amidst the bombed-out landscape of desperation they discover their very own peace, albeit temporary, and bonds of trust. As the wish child watches he feels the grace that radiates from the universe they create… See also:  Publisher's Weekly  ,  Goodread

Title: The Wind Rises [dvd] Author: Miyazaki, Hayao, 1941-  List of other authors Publication details: Madman Entertainment, [2013] Up on becoming of the war, a long history of poverty, political and economic unbalance plants the seed of uncertainty and insecurity among young people in Japan. Inspired by the famous Italian aeronautical designer Caproni, Jiro dreams of flying and designing beautiful airplanes. But being nearsighted from a young age, he was unable to be a pilot. To chase for his dream, Jiro joins a major Japanese engineering company in 1927 and becomes one of the world's most innovative and accomplished airplane designers. After a flying trail accident, Jiro seeks respite in the country, he meets and falls in love with Nahoko, a childhood friend he once knew. And restart to pursuit his dream by the encouragement brought by her love. The Wind Rises is Miyazaki's love letter to the power of flight and the imagination, an examination of the rise of Japa...

Title: The Felix and Zelda Series Author: Gleitzman, Morris, 1953- The narrator, Felix, is a young Jewish boy who has been living in an orphanage in 1942 Poland, where his parents left him and from which he expects them to fetch him some day. The book initially depicts Felix as a naïve but imaginary boy who as a child experiences violent change in his life. Yet not having the capacity in understanding the significance of such power events, Felix make them into stories and tell to the audience. As the story develops, Felix slowly begins to realize the true nature of events happening around him, but continues to cling to the idea that his parents are alive... The series was initially written as a children’s fiction book. However, because of the underlaying heavy historical theme behind the story, this series is often suggested to mentally matured children, young adults and adults. The first book in the series: Once is sometimes compare to John Boyne's The Boy in the Stripe...

Title: Night Flight to Paris Author: Gilman, David Publication detail: London : Head of Zeus, 2018 Henry Mitchell was once a mathematics lecturer in prewar Paris, married to a French woman and living with their young daughter. When the NAZI comes, Henry lost his wife and daughter while escaping to England. Henry is asked to return to Paris, to help with the resistance there, getting people out of the city like he once did and his family did not accomplish. would he be prepared to do so again? What follows is a tremendous spy novel, full of heart gripping tension and lung busting action. Mitchell will travel across France, gathering support along the way, until eventually he finds himself in the dark and treacherous streets of Paris. See Also:  Goodreads  ,  Amazon

Title: Sapphire Skies Author: Alexandra, Belinda Publication details: Sydney, N.S.W. HarperCollins Publishers Australia, 2014 An intense and emotional story set in the backdrop of Stalin‘s Russia. Natalia Azarova is an ace pilot and pin-up girl who fell in love before going missing in action in the forest near the Russian Ukrainian border. Follow her life and struggles to try to return to her family and the love of her life. A Kremlin's secret and ultimate betrayal led everyone to believe that she had betrayed her beloved Russia. A story of love, loyalty, honor and forgiveness. With great effort in researching into Russia under Stalin’s reign, Alexandra tells the story by flipped back and forth between WWII and the present, with the present focuses on an Australian woman living in Russia. When the past and present finally collides each other, would there be more truth to discover from history's mist? See also:  Goodread  ,  Amazon

Title: The Jade Lily Author: Manning, Kirsty Pulication details: Crows Nest, NSW : Allen & Unwin, 2018 The Jade Lily is the second novel by Australian author, Kirsty Manning. Alexandra Laird had rushed home from London to be with her grandparents in Melbourne. Opa was dying, and she needed to be with him in his last hours, and to be there for Oma. Her husband’s imminent death recalled all the memories that Romy Cohen had been suppressing. Shanghai, and their years there as Jewish refugees. Kirsty has taken a well-known historical period and carved her story into a setting that is quite significant in Jewish history. But the real chemistry is between the characters and their oriental promised land, Shang-hi. With huge amount of research effort, Kirsty represented a different angle of view to China and its occupants during the Great War time. See Also:  Publisher's Weekly  ,  Goodreads

Title: The Island of Sea Women Author: See, Lisa London : Scribner, 2019 Jeju Island, Korea in the 1930s was made up of huge teams of women – the haenyeo - the all-female diving collective who provided for their families during the seasons, while the men of the families cared for the children. Young-sook was born into the life. Her mother was chief of their diving group, guiding them into the perfect places for the best catch. As Young-sook began her diving life as a baby diver, she had Mi-ja, her best friend, by her side. Together they learned the craft under the guidance and care of Young-sook’s mother. The Island of Sea Women is a slow-paced fascinating story about the life of a remote ethic group during the great war time. Lisa See wrote a completely involving novel which covers the horrid events of the Jeju uprising; the dreadful cruelty of the South Koreans and the brutal deaths of many of the island’s population. All these events were blended into a fiction tale, told...

Title: A Town like Alice  Author: Shute, Nevil, 1899-1960 Publication detail:  London : Macmillan Collector's Library, 2018. ©1950 This is the story of Jean Paget, a Scottish woman, who was captured together with 80 women and children by the Japanese during World War II in Malaya, when they have been forced to walk through the jungle trails for more than 1200 miles. The story also covers postwar time, when Jean find peace back in Australia. The word Alice in the title refers to the actual town of Alice Spring. The narrator of this story is Noel Strachan, the solicitor of Jean's heritage and he must act as her trustee until she completes 35 years old. It is a wonderful story of heroism, far off places, Australia and Malaya, native people, life and death, love and hardship. See also:  Goodreads

Title: Bodies of Men Author: Featherstone, Nigel Publication deail: Sydney: Hachette Australia, 2019 Egypt, 1941. Only hours after disembarking in Alexandria, William Marsh, an Australian corporal at twenty-one, is face down in the sand, caught in a stoush with the Italian enemy. He is saved by James Kelly, a childhood friend from Sydney. Bodies of Men is a gentle and sensitively written story about two men who go to war. A boyhood infatuation becomes an adult love affair after an accident leaves James incapacitated. In  this novel, Featherstone approaches lightly with words,  oresent them in a deeply emotive sparse format. The book isn’t just a standard war experience story. War is an overriding theme, but often at times, it is offset by the power of bonds, responsibilities, morality, acceptance and love. By carefully research into the war period and putting his effort into a story, Nigel Featherstone achieved a lot in breaking down some barriers through trust and ...

Title: Giovanni's Island [dvd] Director: Nishikubo, Mizuho, 1953- Production company: production IG Publication detail: Australia Distributed by Madman Entertainment, [2015] In the aftermath of the most devastating conflict mankind had ever experienced, the tiny island of Shikotan became part of the Sakhalin Oblast... and on the unhealed border in this remote corner of the world, friendship among children from two different countries timidly blossomed, striving to overcome language barriers and the waves of history. Inspired by true events. With beautiful animated scenes, humor and loss, Nishikubo and IG production describes to the audience a human scale touch feeling story. This film shows the resilience of youth and the common humanity after a devastating world war. Reminds us the reason for us to find peace. See also:  IMDB  ,  Anime news network See Trailer