Under the Golden Sun: A Novel

A very different story set in Australia during WWII. This is a book of families, of love and forgiveness. Set in 1940's on a cattle station in Australia against the wilds of the country during a time of war. The story begins in England in 1941. Rose is working as a secretary on a farm in Devon after losing her commission in the woman's auxiliary service when she suffers a tremendous personal loss. Her uncle Lionel has asked her to meet him in London for her birthday dinner. She has been feeling a bit down and needs to do something different than being a secretary on the farm. As she is reading a newspaper while riding on the train to London to meet her uncle she spies an advertisement which sparks interest. It is an ad for a companion to accompany a young orphan to Australia. She decides to check it out and ends up taking the job as she is taken with four year old Walter. Rose leaves her family and her fiancée to travel the dangerous journey from England to Australia with a four year old child to take him to his mother's relations the Lucknows. When she arrives at the cattle station she soon learns the secrets of his relation to the Lucknows. Now she has a choice to make. Stay with Walter or return to England. I love the story behind the aboriginal people in Australia it was very interesting to me , It is something I know very little about. I loved the bravery of the Lucknow's and Rose in defending Walter against those that were unkind toward him because of who his father was. I enjoyed reading this book. What a wonderful story of love and forgiveness. I loved the setting, the characters and the story written around them all. The past and the present and the perceived future for this family was wonderfully written. I would definitely recommend this book. Thanks to Jenny Ashcroft for writing a wonderful story, to St. Martin's Press for publishing it and to NetGalley for making it available to me.