''The Daughters of Mars'' is a 2012 novel by

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n novelist

Tom Keneally Thomas Michael Keneally, AO (born 7 October 1935) is an Australian novelist, playwright, essayist, and actor. He is best known for his non-fiction novel ''Schindler's Ark'', the story of Oskar Schindler's rescue of Jews during the Holocaust, wh ...

Plot summary

Sally and Naomi Durance are two nurses from country New South Wales who are shipped to Egypt during World War I end up on the Red Cross hospital ship ''Archimedes'', stationed in the Dardanelles. The novel follows the sisters through that campaign and on to northern Europe.

Notes

* Dedication: To the two nurses,
Judith and Jane

Reviews

In ''The Guardian'' Jay Parini notes that "Keneally revisits the first world war from the perspective of two sisters, nurses who see the blood and guts of this conflict from the periphery, on hospital ships and operating theatres...Of course there are love stories, rather inevitable and not especially interesting or memorable. And not quite knowing how to conclude the novel, Keneally offers a peculiar, bifurcated ending that doesn't work. But in truth this doesn't matter. This is a novel on an epic scale: its plenitude and anguish are life-enhancing, and the huge talents of Thomas Keneally are everywhere on display." Alan Riding in ''The New York Times'' found that "''The Daughters of Mars'' is a long book, with ample room for multiple characters and numerous subplots, not a few involving love affairs between our circle of nurses and assorted doctors, orderlies and soldiers. But by the spring of 1916 it’s the carnage on the Western Front that consumes everyone’s attention." But concludes that Keneally "has rescued forgotten heroines from obscurity and briefly placed them center stage."

Awards and nominations

* 2012 winner

Colin Roderick Award The Colin Roderick Award is presented annually by the Foundation for Australian Literary Studies at Queensland's James Cook University for "the best book published in Australia which deals with any aspect of Australian life". It was first presented ...

* 2013 longlisted

Miles Franklin Literary Award The Miles Franklin Literary Award is an annual literary prize awarded to "a novel which is of the highest literary merit and presents Australian life in any of its phases". The award was set up according to the will of Miles Franklin (1879–195 ...

* 2013 shortlisted

New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards The New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, also known as the NSW Premier's Literary Awards, were first awarded in 1979. They are among the richest literary awards in Australia. Notable prizes include the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction, th ...

— Christina Stead Prize for Fiction * 2013 shortlisted

Australian Book Industry Awards The Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) are publishers' and literary awards held by the Australian Publishers Association annually in Sydney "to celebrate the achievements of authors and publishers in bringing Australian books to readers". ...

(ABIA) — Australian Literary Fiction Book of the Year * 2014 longlisted

International Dublin Literary Award The International Dublin Literary Award ( ga, Duais Liteartha Idirnáisiúnta Bhaile Átha Chliath), established as the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 1996, is presented each year for a novel written or translated into English. ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Daughters of Mars, The 2012 Australian novels Novels by Thomas Keneally Vintage Books books Novels set in Egypt