Peter's Wars A Memoir

This fiercely funny memoir is set in Melbourne during the 1940s. The entrenched Protestant-Catholic divide of those times informs the narrative. Juxtaposed is the gulf between Melburnians and the thousands of Yanks stationed in their city following Pearl Harbor; the dizzying effect on the women had far-reaching consequences. Growing resentment and the increasing fear of a Japanese invasion add to the tension. Born in 1938, Peter relates that he was conceived twice. The conception resulting in his parents' marriage occurs in the back of a '36 Chevy. Five months after the wedding, his mother (who wasn't above telling a little fib) experiences the first signs of pregnancy: it is then she knows that she doesn't want to be a mother. As the war escalates Peter's father joins the RAAF, leaving Peter with a mother who resents having a small child to care for. Neglected, cold and hungry, shame engulfs him when his mother entertains a stream of GIs. Blending the matter-of-fact voice of a child with the accomplished voice of a journalist, Peter's Wars captures the precise detail of the period: a kitchen without heating or running water, black market grog, rationing ...