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FICTION She is grateful only for one thing that war has achieved: it has brought Hiroshi to her Anita Heiss. Barbed Wire and Cherry Blossoms. Sydney: Simon and Schuster, 2016. 255 pp. A$32.99. ISBN: 9781925184846.
An era such as World War II is full of big, ugly stories, but Anita Heiss's Barbed Wire and Cherry Blossoms offers one that is quiet, tender, and deeply intimate. When Hiroshi, a Japanese soldier, escapes from an Australian POW camp, an Aboriginal family living on Erambie Mission hides and cares for him in secret. Mary, the Williams family's oldest daughter, is charged with bringing Hiroshi food, and they begin to fall in love. With their romance as a foundation, Barbed Wire examines the relationship between Aboriginal people, the Japanese, and a white Australian government at war with both. The resulting story is a smart window into an important part of history, and it brings a little happiness into an otherwise dark time.
What is most compelling about Barbed Wire is its depiction of life on a governmentmandated Aboriginal mission. It is not an easy existence: Mary's father, Banjo, and uncle Kevin often speak of the injustices done to the Black community by the Australian government, like being denied the right to vote or being segregated from whites in movie theaters and hospitals. Yet despite these immense obstacles, the community brims with love and affection for each other. Small...