This historical novel is set in the two decades post World War II, mostly in a rural Victorian town called Almond Tree but also Moscow and Hiroshima. The main characters are Wes Cunningham, a Quaker, now a builder, and was a soldier in New Guinea. His sister Patty was a nurse during the war and postwar is working in Hiroshima. The devastation and long term effects of radiation is explored and yes, made me cry. Wes falls in love with Beth from another Almond Tree family(not Quaker). Beth is smart, and a dedicated Communist, she goes to uni in Melbourne. The story follows their lives up to the early 60s. I found all the various aspects in this novel really interesting and enjoyed it way more than I expected to. Great characters and well written.

Set in the aftermath of WWII, mostly in the 1950's and 1960's, in Almond Tree Australia, Hiroshima and Moscow, we get to know and follow the lives of Beth, Wesley and his sister Patty.
Wesley, a member of the small Quaker community of Almond Tree, just came back home from the war and hopes to marry Beth, the headstrong, 100% dedicated communist girl from Almond Tree, and finally his sister Patty who' after working as a nurse during the war decides to volunteer in Hiroshima and gets to see firsthand the devastation of the city and the lingering side effects of the radiation on the population.

Each of the characters live their live fulfilling their beliefs at their fullest, even if it means hardship and harsh circumstances, for Beth prison, exile to Moscow and torture, for Patty the heartache of widowhood and her baby daughter physical deformation because of radiation and for Wes, the heartache of unresponsive love and rejection.

At times raw and hard to read this book brings to live characters that resonate with the reader.

Thanks to Netgalley for a copy of this book for an honest review.

This is the second Robert Hillman book I have read and I just love his writing. His characters are beautifully written (Wes is delightful) and always slightly (but realistically) damaged.

This is a great story of a place, a time, and a family. But mostly about a boy and a girl. A girl who wanted to make the world a better place and a Quaker boy who has seen the horrors of war. This book follows their journey through life but also follows in pieces the lives of the family members and especially the town of Almond Tree.

I love that this story showed the naivety of human nature, the hardships of the lives of those who went against the grain, the meanness of the people of the Soviet Union and other countries like Japan and America who used war and bombs to wipe out life and places.

This book pulled me in to a world which on one hand was idealic, even paradise yet on the other hand was sad, horrific and dangerous. The story took me on a rollercoaster ride of happiness, sadness, horror, scariness and danger that I would never want to experience in life but I know people of the times would have had to experience everyday.

Although a book of fiction you know that similar things did happen before, during and after the wars so you do get emotional and feel for the characters in the book. And speaking of characters, they all had a place in this book, they were all part of the story and they fit in well with how the story flowed. But the main characters, Wes and Beth, frustrated me while also making me think that human nature can and usually is kind and caring.

I loved this book and anyone who loves historical fiction should give it a go.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4 stars. Post World War II is brought to life in this novel. Reading a good historical fiction novel is the next best thing to time travel and this title is just that. Another bonus is that a main character is a Quaker and given that he is returning home from WWII, the added dimension of religious conflict was intriguing. Recommended.

The Bride of Almond Tree is a novel by Australian author, Robert Hillman. Wesley Cunningham was raised as a Quaker, so when the war came, he volunteered for a non-combative role. It didn’t stop him getting shot, but now he’s home in Almond Tree, all he wants is to build a house on the block he has purchased, “marry, raise children and avoid battlefields.” And when he spots his childhood friend, Beth, all grown up, he knows she’s the one.

Elizabeth Hardy’s family accepts her declaration of fervour for Marxism with somewhat puzzled amusement. When Wes turns up with a bunch of flowers for Beth, she gently explains “I’m going to university in the city. I’d barely see you. And in all honesty, I don’t want a boyfriend. I have politics. The Eureka Youth League takes up all of my spare hours. Do you see? You’d be wasting your time.”

She later suggests he marry her sister Franny, who will provide all he wants and more. Wes takes the rejection calmly and pledges his everlasting friendship: he will always care about Beth. But the attentions of Franny, and women of the Quaker community, do not move him.

Meanwhile, Wesley’s older sister, Patty serves as a nurse in New Guinea during the war, then extends her service into Hiroshima, helping the sick and dying in that devastated place. “But she’s also in Hiroshima because of God. Quakers believe that God gives each Quaker a task in life and once he or she understands the task, it’s permanent. Patty believes that God wants her to help the people of Hiroshima. She can never escape that task.”

A talented mason and carpenter, Wes is kept busy with construction in Almond Tree while Beth is at Uni, but is always available for whatever task she needs done, be it servicing an old printer for posters, or driving a fifteen-hundred-mile trek into South Australia. Beth begins to see that: “She had only ever conceived of loyalty as a loyalty to the people, to the program. But she had to concede that loyalty could also be loyalty to an individual person. Wes was loyal to her. Wasn’t this worth something?”

Sent to London and Moscow, Beth realises she is being groomed as an agent for the Party, and willingly, if naively, undertakes a rather clumsy espionage assignment, with unfortunate consequences. Sitting in a cell, Beth realises she has: “barely grasped life in its complexity and danger before Pentridge. She had seen only the smugness of the bourgeoisie, never the heartache, the desperate struggle to keep a life going.”

And if serving time in an Australian prison isn’t terribly onerous, her situation soon changes when the British Government gets involved. Nonetheless, Beth remains wedded to the Soviet communist cause, until her new situation makes it clear that it might be a very different prospect to the Marxist ideal. Thereafter, her idealistic actions endanger her freedom and, ultimately, her life. Throughout, Wes remains steadfast, unwavering in his support of his cause: Beth.

The story meanders along over some twenty years of the mid-twentieth century; Hillman’s characters are ordinary people trying to live good lives according to their firm beliefs and convictions during dynamic times. It is not difficult to be moved by their plights, to cheer them on and hope for favourable outcomes. Some scenes are bound to cause a lump in the throat or a tear in the eye. Hillman easily evokes the setting and the era, and his descriptive prose is often wonderful. A moving and thought-provoking read.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Text Publishing.

In the 1950s and 1960s, Hiroshima's catastrophe remains painfully real. Though construction is going on, the soil from which the food is gathered is irradiated and many suffer from cardiac issues. Babies are often born disfigured, some fatally. Almond Tree, Australia, is a world away but not without problems. Neither is Moscow. This sobering, poignant and raw book is about what the human being is capable of from love to loathing to despair to hope. It is also about what it means to be family.

Patty and Hado are colleagues in Hiroshima who fall in love and strive for the same goal...saving lives. Meanwhile, Wes, a Quaker and builder falls in love with Beth but she is first and foremost a communist. Quite an unlikely pairing politically. Beth eventually realizes she does love Wes but soon experiences horrific long-term trauma. Their circumstances are very different from those of Patty and Hado and yet love reaches them in even the darkest places. The author uses world events in his narrative such as Stalin's death.

My favourite aspect of the book is its uniqueness. However, I did not feel a connection to or with any of the characters and therefore didn't feel as invested as I had hoped. Still, if you are looking for a Historical or General Fiction from a different perspective, do pick this up.

My sincere thank you to Text Publishing and NetGalley for the privilege of reading this interesting book.