War Babies

by Macklin, Robert (2004), 305pp., ISBN 1 74076 090 5.
AUD$31.78 (Including GST: AUD$34.96) (softcover )

'With great narrative gusto – and no small investigative skill – Robert Macklin brings mid-20th century Australia to vivid life in this poignant and revealing memoir.'

Journalist, screenwriter, and author Robert Macklin's autobiography opens in wartime Brisbane. While his father is away fighting in the armed services, young Robert's childhood is happy, secure, centred on his mother. The streets of suburban Brisbane, the neighbours, the customs and daily routines come alive as Robert writes of his progress through life - schooldays, bike-riding, Guy Fawkes nights, friendships and fights, sporting triumphs, office jobs and station life as an inexperienced city-bred jackaroo. Against this innocent backdrop is the reality of postwar hardship, relentless hard work , returning soldiers and fractured relationships, the uncertainties of a generation of war babies. And in Robert's family, simmering beneath the surface, is the mystery of his mother's family and origins. This is a compelling story of the intense bond between mother and son, its disturbance when the soldier father returns, an affectionate portrait of Brisbane, and an intriguing family history.