The Botanist's Daughter

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In 1944, Beatrix, Plum, Bubbles, Lucy and Joy are assigned to a mobile canteen unit where they find themselves working long days, and nights, to supply soldiers with food, drink, sundries and a dance partner. I enjoyed getting to know these authentically portrayed, interesting female characters, admiring the strength and courage they displayed in such physically, and emotionally, challenging circumstances. Nunn’s vivid descriptions of the environment and the ‘Wasbies’ role in Burma is fascinating, and I appreciated the opportunity to learn more about this relatively obscure facet of wartime history. In a striking and original way, Haeseker shows us how we rely on small things, and how their destruction can have huge and irreversible consequences. Indeed, they are not just “small things” – that is precisely her point. They matter as much as if they were six feet tall. Nature is bigger than us, even if we do not typically view it as such. I come from a line of plantswomen – my grandmother and mother were passionate gardeners. I’ve always loved plants; some of my earliest memories are pottering around with my grandmother in her greenhouse, and of her telling me the names of plants as we passed them. I also adore botanical illustration – the beauty, skill and precision of the drawings that are often better than photographs for identifying plants. I’m also fascinated by the medicinal properties of plants, and the fact that many of our modern medicines are based on them. From the first vision I had, I knew it would be a book about plants. I also read a lot of contemporary fiction, and love writers such as Celeste Ng, Maggie O’Farrell, Sarah Winman, Gabrielle Zevin, Ann Patchett and Maria Semple.

Told partly in 1944/5 and partly in 1999 we discover what life was like for young (Bea started in the Wasbies when she was only twenty) girls from sheltered homes who had to endure the heat and humidity of working in a jungle with only rudimentary housing and equipment. How she came to possess the netsuke, how it was lost and how she reclaimed it. I can't help but appreciate a historical novel that mixes fiction and fact so that while I'm enjoying the storytelling side, I'm also learning about a piece of history that I didn't previously know about. This particular novel is inspired by the women who served in WWII Burma; I'm going to be totally honest and say I had zero knowledge of this prior to this book so it was quite fascinating. The storyline alternates between 1945 and 1999, my preference was definitely the 1945 as it was so absorbing (although the 1999 parts were also intriguing). In terms of characters, the book has strong female leads with Bea and Olivia, and I thought each had significant personal growth in finding their assertiveness and courage when needed. Burma, 1945. Bea, Plum, Bubbles, Joy and Lucy: five young women in search of adventure, attached to the Fourteenth Army, fighting a forgotten war in the jungle. Assigned to run a mobile canteen, navigating treacherous roads and dodging hostile gunfire, they become embroiled in life-threatening battles of their own. Battles that will haunt the women for the rest of their lives. Nunn is an author passionately dedicated to her research and this is very much evident in The Last Reunion. I was amazed by the forgotten story of the lost women of the Fourteenth Army. It is vital that we dredge up these absent stories and place them in the spotlight via engaging narratives, such as The Last Reunion. I am grateful to Kayte Nunn to drawing my attention to an aspect of the war that I was not previously aware of, despite having read such a wide range of literature around the WWII conflict. I valued the time that I spent with each keynote member of the group that gave up their lives so selflessly during the Burma conflict. These were incredibly testing times for the women, especially in a physical sense. We also learn of the emotional wounds of war from viewpoint of the women decades later. This is a time that continues to haunt them, for good reasons. It was heartbreaking to read. The story alternates primarily between the Wasbies and Olivia working for the art dealer and meeting Bea. Olivia knows nothing of Bea’s wartime service – she knows only that Bea is selling her husband’s collection of Japanese art.The pacing and creativity is exceptional as the narrative unfolds and the author skilfully develops the mystery and intrigue woven throughout the past and present. London and Galway, 1999. On the eve of the new millennium, Olivia, assistant to an art dealer, meets Beatrix, an elderly widow who wishes to sell her late husband's collection of Japanese art. Concealing her own motives, Olivia travels with Beatrix to a New Year's Eve party, deep in the Irish countryside, where friendships will be tested as secrets kept for more than fifty years are spilled. Five women come together at a New Year's Eve's party after decades apart, in this thrilling story of desire, revenge and courage, based on a brave group of Australian and British WWII servicewomen

This is the story of a young woman called Beatrix Pelham who was brought up in India and joined the Women's Auxiliary Services (Burma), or Wasbies as they were affectionately known, dispensing teas, sandwiches, cake and a reminder of home to Allied Forces in India and Burma. Although it might sound the most English thing possible, this women were close to the fighting and were required to set up camp in the most of basic of conditions, then serve food and drink to up to 1,000 hungry soldiers, day after day after day, moving from one location to another. There were a lot of red herrings in the book and different ways the story could have unraveled. Did you always have the ending planned or did it surprise you as well? A little over three years ago, I took my young daughter for a picnic in the Sydney Botanic Gardens. It was a hot sultry day and we were looking for fairies when we came upon the rose garden, and then next to that the herb garden. In the centre of the herb garden is a beautiful bronze sundial, with a raised relief of herbs around it. I put my hand on the warm metal and it was like a bolt of lightning – I had a vision of a young woman in a walled garden in England, with a similar sundial at its centre. I knew straightaway that I had the beginnings of a story and wandered around the rest of the day in a daze, figuring out what it might be. Visual artist Ruth Maclennan talks about what art can do in the face of climate change, her films of Arctic Russia and her latest film, shot in Scotland, From Time to Time at Sea How much research did you need to do in preparation for writing this book especially in regards to botanical art and travel in the 1800’s?Ruth Maclennan: ‘I realised that global warming was happening, and asked, how do I as an artist respond to that’ The Last Reunion has a dual timeline it seamlessly flows between the jungles of Burma during WW II and England/Ireland in the late 1990’s. Inspired by the true stories of the brave members of the Women’s Auxiliary Service in Burma and they were the only women involved in the front-line action during the war. The Wasbies endured the same hardships as the soldiers, tough terrain, tropical weather, leeches, mud and Japanese armies harassment.