{"product_id":"9781460737194_to-sing-of-war","title":"To Sing of War","description":"\u003cp\u003eFrom the author of the Miles Franklin Award shortlisted \u003cem\u003eStoryland\u003c\/em\u003e, comes a rich, layered and thrilling novel of love, war and friendship, \u003cem\u003eTo Sing of War\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLonglisted 2024 ARA Historical Novel Prize\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e'Transcends the boundaries of historical fiction' \u003cem\u003eBooks+Publishing\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDECEMBER 1944 In New Guinea, a young Australian nurse, Lotte Wyld, chances upon her first love, Virgil Nicholson, a soldier in the Allies' hard-fought jungle campaign. At Los Alamos in the United States, idealistic physicists Miriam Carver and Fred Johnson join Robert Oppenheimer and a team of brilliant scientists in a collective dream to build a weapon that will stop all war, while Kitty Oppenheimer wrestles with restrictions on her freedom. And on the sacred island of Miyajima in Japan, Hiroko Narushima is doing her best to protect her family.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEach of these people yearns to belong, yet each fiercely protects their independence. Secrets, misunderstandings and fears burden them; shame shapes them; hope and imagination lift them up. They are caught in a moment of history, both enthralled and appalled by actions they must undertake.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA beautiful, rich and intricately woven novel, \u003cem\u003eTo Sing of War \u003c\/em\u003easks how one person can make a difference in a world that is wondrous, thrilling and endangered. It insists on our interconnectedness, hums with the energy of the world and is a blazingly powerful and deeply moving account of friendship, love and war.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'Deeply intelligent and very affecting' \u003cem\u003eThe Saturday Paper\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'In an exquisite, braided narrative, \u003cem style=\"\" font-size:=\"\" letter-spacing:=\"\"\u003eTo Sing of War\u003c\/em\u003e reanimates World War II in a paean to the environment.' \u003cem style=\"\" font-size:=\"\" letter-spacing:=\"\"\u003eAustralian Book Review\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'\u003cem\u003eTo Sing of War\u003c\/em\u003e is one of the best things I've read this year, sweeping and yet intimate, ambitious, lyrical, propelled by memorable characters you don't want to let go of ... a fluid sense of time, a strong evocation of place and events. It's a novel of big themes, boldly told.' Caroline Baum\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'An intricately woven novel, straddling war, love and friendship.' \u003cem\u003eSydney Morning Herald\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'This is a book I didn't want to end. Its story, characters, settings and portrayal of war's insidious barbarity are utterly compelling.' Good Reading Bookclub \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'I read very quickly, was totally immersed in it, and then I noticed there were moments of birdsong, of nature, and of music and war; this idea of singing war, which goes back both to Virgil and also to something else, she references Brecht at the beginning, but there is something that she is doing there that I found terribly moving.' Kate Evans, ABC Radio, The Bookshelf\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'Catherine McKinnon's last novel, the Miles Franklin-shortlisted \u003cem\u003eStoryland\u003c\/em\u003e, is one of the more striking Australian novels of recent years ... Her new novel, \u003cem\u003eTo Sing of War,\u003c\/em\u003e is no less ambitious. Interweaving the stories of half a dozen characters spread across the planet, it traces them to their convergence in the moment when the bomb fell on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, wiping out tens of thousands of lives in a matter of seconds ... The real power of this deeply intelligent and very affecting novel flows from its awareness of what war does to those caught up in it.' James Bradley, \u003cem\u003eThe Saturday Paper\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'War writing can sometimes be formulaic and cliched, but McKinnon seeks a grittier view of war's complexities. \u003cem\u003eTo Sing of War\u003c\/em\u003e recognises the prevalence of sexual violence in wartime - something which is often overlooked in commemorations.' Brigid Magner, \u003cem\u003eThe Conversation\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Catherine McKinnon","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46900264829077,"sku":"9781460737194","price":50.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0484\/3175\/9509\/files\/9781460737194_228d01f7-73e5-4b22-8641-06eb52b45ba4.jpg?v=1776992621","url":"https:\/\/harpercollins.com.au\/products\/9781460737194_to-sing-of-war","provider":"HarperCollins AU","version":"1.0","type":"link"}