The Passengers has still managed to keep me busy over recent weeks. On ABC Radio National’s The Bookshelf, you can listen to reviewers discussing the novel.
Lisa Hill reviewed it on the ANZlitlovers blog, as did Candida Baker in the Sydney Morning Herald here. I particularly loved this review from book blogger Little Big Reads.
The lovely, Queensland-based author Cass Moriarty reviewed The Passengers on her blog and I wrote a piece for International Women’s Day about women during WWII.
Finally, there have been library talks, uni visits, a splendid launch and book signings in some wonderful shops. I love to hear from readers, so if you’re thinking of getting in touch – please do!
Tim Froling
Hi Eleanor.
I listened to your interview today on ABCRN, with half an ear I admit, though indeed it started me thinking, conjuring up self-constructed images of a young woman with her daughter on the train platform. What was the connection? Ah yes, The wonderful song by the Waifs, ‘Bridal Train’. Funny because in my mind the platform is on a desolate outback siding, yet the song has the bride leaving from Fremantle, WA.
“No time for sad good byes,
She held her mother as she cried,
Then waited there in the Freo rain,
To climb aboard the bridal train…”
A good piece for the IWD, I look forward to getting and reading the book.
All the best.
“All the girls around Australia,
Married to a yankee sailor,
Your fare is paid across the sea,
To the home of the brave,
And the land of the free,
From west to east the young girls came,
All aboard the bridal train,
It was a farewell crossing of their land,
She’s gone to meet her sailor man”
Tim Froling
Further to previous.
The opening line to ‘Bridal Train’
“A telegram arrived today,
Well it’s time to catch the Monterey”
SS Monterey is an identical ship to the SS Mariposa, which is pictured in your International Women’s Day article.
http://thingsmadefromletters.com/blog/2018/03/07/press-progress-eleanor-limprecht-wartime-women/
Wikipedia says SS Monterey – 16 February 1946 took Australian war brides from Sydney to San Francisco, stopping at Suva, Fiji and Honolulu, Hawaii along the way.
PS “The Passengers” is in transit. 🙂
Eleanor
Hi Tim, thanks for your messages, and I hope you enjoy The Passengers. The Waifs song is a great one – they capture that sense of sad farewell and adventure beautifully. My character in The Passengers, Sarah, sails to America on the SS Mariposa. The Mariposa, Monterey and Lurline were all Matson Liners used to transport war brides from Australia to the US, although Liberty ships were used as well. The Matson Liner ships were refitted after the war with nurseries and other facilities to carry the war brides and their children. If you’re interested as well in further social history of Australian war brides who moved to America, Robyn Arrowsmith’s book All the Way to the USA is fascinating (http://www.aussiewarbrides.com).
All the best, Eleanor