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The Daughters of Mars by Thomas Keneally

The Daughters of Mars

by Thomas Keneally

  • Critics' Consensus (10):
  • Readers' Rating (40):
  • Published:
  • Aug 2013, 544 pages
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There are currently 40 reader reviews for The Daughters of Mars
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Carol J. (Isle, MN)

Daughters of Mars
Must admit it took me a few pages to get into this book, but once I was grabbed I enjoyed it completely. It was a very detailed accounting of WWI's casualties and the nurses and doctors who took care of them.
As a nurse who served in the Army, I found this book even more intriguing. The detail was amazing.
The characters were very well developed, so that I felt I knew them well and did not want any harm to come to them. There was always that sense that anything could happen to any of the characters.
And of course the ending was jaw dropping. So frequently the ending of a book is a let down. Definitely not in thismore
Mary G. (Purcellville, VA)

Daughters of Mars is Mesmerizing
I would like to thank BookBrowse for giving me the opportunity to read this exceptional novel. It tells the story of some of the unsung heroines of World War 1: the volunteer nurses. Through the lives of the Durance sisters and the other members of their Australian nurses corps, Keneally does a terrific job of conveying their courage and fortitude in the face of unimaginable horror and privation. The book was absorbing from start to finish, but I have to confess the ending took me completely by surprise and I am still thinking about it--a week after finishing the book. Put this book on your must read list.
Maggie R. (Canoga Park, CA)

Keneally is back!
I love this book. How could I not? A favorite author who has written, besides Schindler's List, a string of novels of life in Australia . . . a favorite setting for fiction, WWI. Think Pat Barker's Regeneration trilogy, Sebastien Japrisot's "A Very Long Engagement". Hallelujah!
Dee H. (Greenfield, CA)

War is Grim
This was a very good book with excellent character development and what I believe was an accurate picture of what went on in the field hospitals of WWI. The view of the war through the eyes of two Australian nurses who are sisters stretches from Egypt, where the sisters deal with the aftermath of the battles at Gallipoli, to France, where the casualties of the Somme relentlessly fill the hospitals. Along the way love and loss find the sisters and bring some variety to the daily struggle to help combatants survive.

I put off finishing this book because I feared that it wasn't going to end well, but I did finishmore
Virginia B. (Forest Park, IL)

Daughters of Mars
Daughters of Mars was an interesting perspective of WWI through the eyes of Naomi and Sally. I did have a bit of trouble getting used to the way it was written. Once I did, I had a hard time putting the book down. I liked the way the sisters became friends during the hardships that they endured. I also liked how their love lives developed out of friendship. Naomi and Sally both got into nursing to get away from the family farm and found their true calling. It seems as if they truly enjoyed nursing the wounded. I think it's always interesting to read about medical practices so different from what we're used tomore
Marjorie H. (Woodstock, GA)

Incredible!
Every now and then a book comes along that is extraordinary and "Daughters of Mars" is in that category for me.
The book begins with two Australian sisters who sign on to serve halfway around the world in the medical units of WWI. They are the center of the circle that is ever widening as the story unfolds. They are marvelous characters who share a family secret, a dislike for one another and also the abiding love that two women share as occupiers of the same womb.
The graphic descriptions of wounded soldiers - both physically and mentally may be hard for some to read. However, Kenneally's gift of prose is a 'more
Charles T. (Asheville, NC)

A different view of the First World War
Thomas Keneally has written an epic novel of the First World War and made it unique by telling the story from the viewpoint of Australian nurses and soldiers instead of the traditional viewpoint of the French and the English and the Americans. The Australian insistence on non conscription forces and volunteers, gives that country a place in the horrible fighting that sets them apart and supports the indefatigable efforts of the country's nurses and soldiers. The book is magnificent in it's characters, plot and language.

The author uses dialogue with no punctuation so it is completely unobtrusive and effective inmore
Power Reviewer
Lee M. (Creve Coeur, MO)

World War 1
From Australia to Tripoli, and then to the Western Front in World War I this book follows two nurses, that also happen to be sisters. Thomas Keneally writes very graphically about the atrocities committed in the name of war and makes an excellent case, perhaps unintentionally, for pacifism. He writes so emotionally about Naomi and Sally Durance that it blurs the fact that it is a man writing about women's thoughts and emotions. I found this book extremely enjoyable. Caution, the factual descriptions are quite explicit. Keneally sneaks in a little twist at the end.

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