Can love prevail, when horror becomes too much to bear?
The 1960s are beating a fresh pulse of political and cultural upheaval through Sydney. For sheltered convent schoolgirl Poppy Flannery such changes seem irrelevant. But it doesn’t stop her from longing to join in, especially if it means spending time with the popular boy she secretly loves, Ben Williamson. So when the opportunity for a dream escape to Surfers Paradise arrives, Poppy and her twin sister Rosemary seize it and find themselves in the midst of the swinging sixties at last.
Rosemary embraces their secret new life with a vengeance, discovering drugs, boys and radical politics in a haze of parties, music festivals and protest marches. But such freedom is stolen when Rosemary’s great love, Angus, is sent to Vietnam, along with Ben.
Soon a war fought thousands of kilometres away will arrive on the twins’ door in the form of orphaned refugee Thuy. As many more victims begin to appear, including shattered versions of Australian soldiers, they must decide how far they will go for the men they adore, and ask themselves whether love really is all you need.
Purchase Links
Harlequin Australia * Amazon Australia * Booktopia * Angus & Robertson * Amazon US
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Thoughts On The Book
War Flower by Mary-Anne O’Connor is set amongst the back-drop of the technicolour sixties, moving through the seventies all the way to the eighties. Revolving around the characters of Poppy Flannery, Ben Williamson and Angus Tanner. The story has multiple stories within that wove together in what was an attention grabbing story.
Ms O’Connor’s third book is heartfelt and full of controversial moments.
Review copy received from Harlequin Australia via Netgalley
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A moving debut novel about love and war, and the terrifyingly thin line between happiness and tragedy, hope and despair.
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