Interned by Pamela Rushby

The novel Interned is based on true historical events that took place in World War One. This devastating practice of internment is an often-forgotten aspect of the war which touched and impacted lives on our Australian shores. Author Pamela Rushby has sensitively dealt with this disturbing topic in a well-researched and careful manner. Two stories of two families with two young girls on the cusp of adolescence, both of German heritage but poles apart in circumstances, are brought together in this heart-wrenching tale of a shameful period in Australia’s history. The story reveals the prejudice and ill-treatment of innocent families as they try to adjust and cope with the propaganda and hysteria created by the Australian Government of the time. Gretta has lived a privileged life in Singapore but with her family is sent to Australia as an ‘enemy alien.’ Tilly is Australian born and bred but as the daughter of a German-born baker she and her family are subject to the laws surrounding the internment of those with a German background. Both girls eventually form a bond in a rural township in country NSW and forge an unlikely friendship. Their respective journeys are not easy, and both are shared in alternative chapters that are interwoven and connected.

This book has lighter moments amidst the heartache, but it is compelling reading and an excellent commentary of social times during the First World War years. A fabulous class novel or text to support History students studying World War One.

Themes: WW1, Internment, Families, German Culture, Australian Culture, Displacement, Racism, Suspicion, Enemy Aliens, Propaganda.

Kathryn Beilby