Traitor, Stephen Daisley

This book is written by a New Zealander living in Perth in Western Australia. I would probably never have given it a second glance except that I was looking for a new novel in Melbourne in March in Readings Bookstore St Kilda http://www.readings.com.au/st-kilda, with my friends Kai and Rajni. They recommended it and I've just finished it. It was the book I waited to read at the end of each day and kept sighing about and saying 'this is so good, you must read it'. It is about World War One, again, not usually a topic I fancy so much in novels, but it twists the emphasis away from heroism and onto sheer loss, fear, love, spirituality, belief, longing ... it is a truly remarkable and powerful book. The main character allows us to reflect again on war and question it through his memories of being a 'traitor' and consorting with an enemy, and the book touches on questions of masculinity and sexuality as well as notions of bravery and emotions. It's a poetic book, so powerful an account of war and also the relationships between NZ and Australian soldiers that I felt utterly moved by it. There's an amazing passage about going over the trenches. I so wish we could talk about war like this more often. I am so glad I tried it and ignored the cover which made me think it would be dull or derivative. Published in 2010 by Text publishing in Melbourne, it is a simply beautiful book - read it! http://textpublishing.com.au/books-and-authors/book/traitor/