{"product_id":"ashes-sakura-david-paul-gormley-obrien-9781764199100","title":"Ashes \u0026 Sakura: An Australian story of the making of a Pacific nation","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eAshes and Sakura\u003c\/em\u003e is the second novel in the \u003cem\u003eBecoming Australia\u003c\/em\u003e series, following on from \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eAn Attractive Naivety\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe story reunites readers with Tom and his sister Evelyn, both last seen in the earlier novel, as they face the upheavals of the postwar world.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJapan, 1946. Haunted by what he witnessed-and did-during the fighting, Australian soldier Tom joins the British Commonwealth Occupation Force in a nation devastated by defeat. In the ruins of Hiroshima, he meets Natsuko, a young Japanese woman cast adrift by hunger and shame. Their fragile bond offers a glimmer of meaning in the rubble.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBack home in country New South Wales, Evelyn faces a scandal of her own. Pregnant to Giovanni, an Italian prisoner of war once assigned to their family farm, she defies her father and the small-town whispers to keep the child. With her mind made up-and help from the local priest-she sets out to find Giovanni and build a future on her own terms.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eAshes and Sakura\u003c\/em\u003e is a tender story of love, shame, and the struggle for good in a world that has been torn apart. A novel about what war destroys-and what might still be mended in its wake.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e David Paul Gormley-O'Brien\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1764199103\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781764199100\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Nihil Alienum\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 08\/19\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 284\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.84lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.60d","brand":"David Paul Gormley-O'Brien","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48154163282175,"sku":"9781764199100","price":17.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_eee87434-9f4e-4190-a8f8-efc95c451ef6.jpg?v=1770788316","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/ashes-sakura-david-paul-gormley-obrien-9781764199100","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}