It is 1942. Japanese forces have attacked Sydney Harbour.
An elderly lady in New South Wales kindly takes on the caring of some 46 dogs for their owners who are away protecting their country.
“Kat” is a young girl of 13 who helps look after and play with the dogs, taking on “Lucky” for one owner and writing letters to him while he is away. She develops a mysterious connection to him through his dog and is able to ‘see and feel’ what he is going through on the other side of the world.
Kat’s school, St Marys, sings the well-loved anthem “Abide with me” to comfort families who have lost loved ones.
When the atomic bombs are dropped at Nagasaki and Hiroshima, Kat mysteriously senses the strange white mushroom cloud from her location in New South Wales – before it is announced on the news. She senses that her dog’s owner is in trouble.
Then she finds out that whole cities and the people in them have turned to white dust. People are blinded, some see only rainbows on the edge of their vision from the toxic effects of the atomic bomb.
Author Jackie French has used real first-hand accounts from diaries and primary sources of those who were in the area when it was bombed.
End notes also state that the Japan of then is not the Japan of today. a small Japanese military encouraged mothers to take their own lives and their children’s lives rather than surrender to the Allies. The story outlines the difficult problem of enforced rape and suicide of civilian populations during wartime.
The role of the Jesuits in providing aid and Communion to those who wanted it is mentioned, based on factual events.
The characters are fictional except for General MacArthur, prime ministers Churchill, Curtin and Chifley, and Emperor Hirohito. The events of the story are also fiction, but are based on real life events that happened during World War Two.
The author ‘neither condones nor condemns the bombings’, and cautions that ‘once war begins it is very difficult to stop.’
The book offers the reader the opportunity to reflect on the personal costs of war to both soldiers and non-combatants.
After reading it I learned about history from the perspective of the Japanese people – often caught sadly under a fierce Japanese military.
An interesting and thought provoking story.
Jane Allison reviews books 