What do readers think of The Daughters of Mars by Thomas Keneally? Write your own review.

This book is absolutely the best! I loved it all. I lived with these women and all the horrific events of the war. It was a surprise to learn of the medical treatments that are still used today. I felt the characters were very realistic. I had a hard time at the end—I was so caught off guard and actually happy to have it end as it did. But have to admit it took two readings of the ending to understand it.

This novel, by the author of Schindler's List, Thomas Keneally, has something for everyone. It is World War l from a different perspective, that of two Australian nurses, sisters (Sally and Naomi), who are haunted by memories of a past deed. They travel to Egypt, France etc. aboard a hospital ship and later to other hospitals and the front lines. Throughout this story, with war always as a background, there is love and romance, bravery and death and we live it along with the heroes and heroines. I found one reference to Mars, the Roman God of war, in a letter written to one of the sisters, "And if not immediately required to spread myself ON THE ALTAR OF MARS------". Thought the book began a little slowly, but it came to a point where I couldn't put it down! Felt the few references to "Jewishness" were unnecessary. Maybe the author wanted to remind us of his other book? The story of the young man who was a Friend (Quaker) and his religious beliefs about bearing arms was very interesting. Quotation marks were not used in the book. Not sure why. And then there was the ending! I reread it several times to understand what actually happened. Will be thinking about it for some time to come!

Through the eyes of two dedicated nurses, Keneally's Daughters of Mars provides a first-hand journey through the horrors of Word War I. Overall, the novel offers a riveting account of romance, heartbreak, friendship, devastation, hope and humanity near the frontlines of some of the most horrendous battles of the 20th century. Along with packing in endless characters, events, and emotions, Keneally's smooth and easy writing style presents the reader with a very believable narrative.

Daughter of Mars is an exceptional novel. From the moment I received the novel, I just couldn't stop reading it. The story is about two sisters who are nurses from Australia who volunteer to travel to France during World War I and care for injured soldiers. The book opens at home, though, with the illness of their mother. Circumstances surrounding the illness impact the sisters and create an unresolved secret that impacts their closeness throughout most of the book.

Initially, I did not think that I would enjoy the novel. The author does not write it from either Naomi or Sally's perspective but rather from a third person perspective throughout. After a few chapters, however, this no longer bothered me and the author's view enabled me to 'see' the action from all character's view. The descriptions of the war, the injured, the sinking of ships and death of warriors were all so real and vivid. I felt tired when the nurses were tired and discouraged and scared when they were.

Today, we read more books about World War II and tend to forget how long and horrific World War I was. The medicine that was available at that time and the surgical practices at the time....all so primitive compared to what we have today.

The story of Naomi and Sally, though, is equally compelling as the story of War. The story of how they developed a closeness and of the men they meet and love. This was a very poignant story and a heart tugging one.

I believe that this book will appeal to a broad audience - both male and female. The details of World War I are historically accurate and portray the battles as they occurred year after year. The love stories in the midst of the battle lend hope to the incredible circumstances that the doctors and nurses faced in such difficult and challenging conditions. I believe this book should be made into a movie. It is a moving tribute to all those who placed their lives in jeopardy in World War I and a movie should be made to honor these brave men and woman. This was an awesome book and I believe Thomas Keneally has a huge bestseller on his hands.

I don't need books to be action packed by any means, but this was a little too plodding for my taste. Despite that, a good and interesting story with good character development, and worth reading. Not for everyone, but if you like fiction with historical background this will probably appeal to you

I wanted to like this book, I really did. It was looong and filled with many interesting details, but I found it strangely impersonal. I never really cared about either of the sisters.

Perhaps it was the writing style in the third person, but I kept reading...and didn't find real motivation for the first rift between the sisters, and didn't find joy and awe in their survival in the ocean.

It makes me want to learn more about WW1 from this theater, but left me a little cold about all the characters.

In The Daughters of Mars, Thomas Keneally aptly provides his readers with the horrors, pain and destruction of war, specifically World War I, on humanity and on the environment. Furthermore, we are privy to the relationship between the Durance sisters, both Australian nurses, and the interactions of the many characters involved with and changed by the circumstances of war.

The end results for many of the characters are not always uplifting thus mirroring the bleakness of war and its effects on those touched by it. Keneally shows the vastness of war as well as the details of it.

Interestingly, Keneally provides alternate endings for the protagonists--a great springboard for discussion among book club members

I enjoyed the novel and highly recommend it to anyone interested in reading a long novel about relationships--both enduring and lost--heroism, and the details and casualties of war.

The sisters showed pure determination in dealing with all the situations they endured as volunteer nurses during World War I. As I plodded through the pages of this book, I felt like it was pure determination on my part to keep on going so that I could write a review. The writing style was very difficult to read. I often had to go back to get the meaning of a passage, or to be sure of which character the author was talking about. I am a reader who reads every word of a book, and "whoa", did I have my work cut out for me. If I had it to do over again I would have taken notes from the beginning to keep track of locations, characters, battles, etc. Maps and perhaps charts of the battles and locations, etc. would have been helpful, especially to readers who are unfamiliar with WWI.
I did give the book a rating of 4, because in the midst of the verbosity of the book, I do think this was an above average book. I came away with a awareness of this war that I didn't have before. There were many interesting issues raised that would be worthy of discussion. I feel that the book could have been improved by a style that would have been easier to read.

I am glad that I read The Daughters of Mars, but I am relieved to have reached the end of the book. And I would be happier if I knew how it really did end!