Victoria Purman

For lovers of Historical Fiction; this is a must read.
I loved this book.
Set in the era when Australia is on the verge of introducing television, the radio serial is the main source of entertainment across the country.
Women at that time were paid a pittance compared to their male counterparts and expected to fetch coffee and other mundane tasks for their ‘boss’ , while suffering the insults and ‘harmless fun’ of their male associates. Many of these women were far more talented than their bosses and in a lot of cases were the real force behind the productions while never being acknowledged.
This is the story of one such woman and her refusal to remain forever in the shadows.
An excellent book!… (altro)

"The Nurses' War" was based on real experiences and for me was historical fiction at its best. It was engaging. compelling, heartwarming, heartbreaking and informative.

The story focuses on Australian nurses Gora, Gertie, Lenora and Fiona who, in 1915, enlisted to help set up a hospital for injured Australian diggers at the beautiful country estate, Harefield House, London. Jessie and her mother, local villagers, also help while waiting for the first casualties to arrive. Later Jessie becomes a hospital volunteer, giving gentle, tender care to all those in need.

At first, Cora sees everything as an adventure but nothing has prepared her for what she and the other nurses are about to face. As the days turn into months and the months into years, they become battle-weary from the constant demands placed upon them and from the horrific wounds they have to deal with daily. However, despite their exhaustion, despair, frustration and lack of sleep, the girls fight for the men in their care with dedication, kindness and courage, often forsaking their own needs.

"The Nurses' War" was an amazing story of bravery, sacrifice, friendship and hope. It made me cry and rage at the physical and psychological carnage that the war inflicted on both the soldiers and those who tended in their recovery. The author didn't hide from the brutalities of war or the horrific injuries inflicted upon the soldiers. However, the stark realities of war were interspersed with humour and good old Aussie larrikinism from the soldiers.

While the nurses weren't perfect, they were real and authentic, compassionate and professional, working under terrible conditions knowing that if they did their job well they would be sending their patients back to the Front. I was with Cora and her colleagues every step of their journey sharing their joys, frustrations and sorrow. A wonderful read and highly recommended.… (altro)

A rich portrait of motherhood, societal expectations and self determination set in post WWII Australia, A Woman’s Work is an engaging novel from best selling author Victoria Purman.

Launched in 1933, offering feature articles on lifestyle, home decoration, cooking, fashion and beauty, parenthood, health and wellbeing, and current affairs as well as serialised stories, advice columns, and various competitions, by the 1950’s the Australian Women’s Weekly was the nation’s most popular household magazine. In A Woman’s Work, a competition run by the periodical searching for original recipes sparks unexpected but welcome change for Purman’s two main characters.

War widow Ivy Quinn is not much of a cook, dinner for her and her twelve year old son, Raymond, is usually no more complicated than eggs and baked beans on toast after her long days as a receptionist in a doctor’s surgery. The generous prize money offered by the Women’s Weekly competition provides an incentive for Ivy to improve her skills in the kitchen, and leads to a surprising new relationship.

Cooking meals for her family is simply another draining daily chore for exhausted wife and mother of five, Kathleen O’Grady. She appreciates that her husband, a mechanic, works hard to support them, but she increasingly resents his indifference to her own needs. Though initially reluctant to enter the Women’s Weekly competition, Kathleen discovers the task could be a gateway to reclaiming her forgotten hopes and dreams.

A Woman’s Work compassionately explores the constrained social expectations of women, and men, in mid 20th century Australia. It’s a realistic reminder as to how recently traditional gender roles were strictly enforced, and how little agency mothers in particular had over their lives.

Having raised my own large family I strongly empathised with Kathleen and her mixed feelings of love, resentment, and guilt as she struggles with the personal sacrifices she feels pressured to make to be perceived as the ‘ideal’ wife and mother. Ivy’s concerns about how she is seen as a working single mother, and her worries about her son’s masculinity, are saddening. Both characters are well realised and their journey’s are heartening.

Purman also touches on a number of provocative issues in A Woman’s Work including rape, domestic violence, homosexuality, contraception, and abortion. Though change has been wrought over time, the legacy of shame and fear still lingers today.

The era and setting of A Woman’s Work is deftly recreated. Recipes of the time drawn from actual entries to the competition preface several chapters. I did a little reading about the history of the Australian Women’s Weekly magazine (which is now a monthly periodical) and found it interesting, particularly with regards to how individual editors over time influenced the content of the magazine and therefore contributed to society’s attitudes about the role of women.

An engaging historical novel, I enjoyed reading A Woman’s Work and I am left thankful for the strides we have made since.… (altro)

A Woman’s Work is a look at the roles of women in 1950s Australia, in and outside the home. There are no punches pulled as to secrets and burdens they bear as the novel follows two women.

Kathleen is thirty years old. She’s also the mother of five children, having left school, worked briefly and then married her husband. Her days are filled with endless housework (not owning a modern washing machine, the laundry takes all day and is hard physical labour) and cleaning up after everyone. (From a modern point of view, her husband needs to start picking up after himself and making his own drinks). It’s mindlessly numbing and tiring. Even her cooking is down to a routine regimen after her husband got angry over her serving rice. Ivy is a war widow who works full time as a medical receptionist while looking after her son Raymond. She has no help from family, is stretched financially and her dinners relate mainly to canned food. When The Australian Women’s Weekly announces a cooking competition, both Ivy and Kathleen decide to enter. Through food, they gain confidence in working through their issues, sharing secrets and making their lives better.

For the majority of the novel, Ivy and Kathleen don’t interact. Their chapters are told alternately and they do feel a bit distant from each other. However, they do give insight into the different issues facing a housewife and a working widow. Towards the end of the novel, Ivy and Kathleen do interact more but it’s quite fleeting. I would have liked to see more interaction earlier on, as the common threads between the two are that they are both entering the AWW competition and bear the burdens of women during the time. Speaking of which, Kathleen’s life sounds absolutely terrible through a modern, feminist lens. While she hasn’t been controlled by the men in her life, she is expected to toe their line. Her husband Peter reads as an absolute pig, never thinking of his wife unless it’s for sex. For most of the novel, he’s not willing to take on part of the parenting roles and enforces his role as head of the family, from eating first, to having the first bath. While a modern woman wouldn’t put up with it, Purman does a good job in explaining the limitations in freedom, social status and lack of technology open to Kathleen and Ivy. For Ivy, her secret is shocking and through a modern lens against, it’s hard to see why she responded the way she did. Again, Purman details her (lack of) options to show why Ivy took the route she did.

Victoria Purman always does methodical research and it shows once again in A Woman’s Work. Interspersed in the novel are actual recipes of the day (can confirm as I have my nan’s copy of New Australian Cookery Illustrated, which is used for some of them). Most of them are more appropriate to the time period than modern palates (e.g., lemon jelly in a savory dish) but the cookbook is definitely worth a read and there are some recipes that do stand the test of time! Many other historical titbits of interest are included, such as how early pubs closed (6pm) and the New Australians (displaced people from Europe after World War II).

Overall, A Woman’s Work is a nostalgic read, but shows how things have changed for the better for women.

Thank you to Harlequin for the ARC. My review is my own opinion.

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