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Start giftingBodies of Men
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Learn moreShortlisted for the 2019 Queensland Literary Awards - FICTION
Longlisted for the 2020 ARA Historical Novel Prize
2019 Canberra Critics Circle Award - FICTION
'a beautiful, tender, captivating story' - Joanna Nell, author of The Single Ladies of Jacaranda Retirement Village
'It is a tender, liberating love story, but, as Featherstone originally intended, a provoking one about our definitions of masculinity, bravery and courage.' - Canberra Times
'a novel about intimacy and devotion, the power of tenderness, the mysteries of time, presence, and absence, secrets revealed and withheld, and friendships between strangers emerging from dire circumstances' - Australian Book Review
There is nothing more important than love and refuge.
Egypt, 1941. Only hours after disembarking in Alexandria, William Marsh, an Australian lieutenant at twenty-one, is face down in the sand, caught in a stoush with the Italian enemy. He is saved by James Kelly, a childhood friend from Sydney and the last person he expected to see. But where William escapes unharmed, not all are so fortunate.
William is sent to supervise an army depot in the Western Desert, with a private directive to find an AWOL soldier: James Kelly. When the two are reunited, James is recovering from an accident, hidden away in the home of an unusual family - a family with secrets. Together they will risk it all to find answers.
Soon William and James are thrust headlong into territory more dangerous than either could have imagined.
'A beautifully written, tender and sensitive love story told within the tense and uncertain context of war.' - Karen Viggers, bestselling author of The Lightkeeper's Wife
'This is a strangely gentle novel about wartime conflict, violence, and chaos.' - Sydney Morning Herald
Nigel Featherstone is an Australian writer who has been published widely. His works include the story collection Joy (2000), his debut novel Remnants (2005), and The Beach Volcano (2014), which is the third in a series of novellas. He wrote the libretto for The Weight of Light, a contemporary song cycle that had its world premiere in 2018. He has held residencies at Varuna (Blue Mountains), Bundanon (Shoalhaven River), and UNSW Canberra at the Australian Defence Force Academy.
He lives on the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales.
Reviews
a novel about intimacy and devotion, the power of tenderness, the mysteries of time, presence, and absence, secrets revealed and withheld, and friendships between strangers emerging from dire circumstances A beautiful story, so deftly constructed . . . Bodies of Men is a wonderful book. Spare, elegant, beautifully written A beautiful, lyrical, elegiac book of love and war. A different take on men and conflict, anda war story like no other Featherstone's writing rings with assurance, and echoes with love, memory and tenderness. a beautiful, tender, captivating story a tender, liberating love story, but... a provoking one about our definitions of masculinity, bravery and courage rich in tone and reflective, revealing the fragile nature of relationships within the shadows of war. Bodies of Men is a profoundly moving piece of fiction from a perceptive writer. a captivating and moving love story that acutely measures the deep paradox of the masculine condition... Featherstone brings it all together in refined, unpretentious prose - war writing without sentimentality or hyperbole. I was totally absorbed by this book, I think it's just the thing for readers of Sebastian Faulks. There are even some ethereal notes of Michael Ondaatje in this. It's that good. Review to come a timeless novel of love between men in wartime... a novel that says sweetness and strength in a man make for no contradiction but are two halves of a whole, and that shows each man, in his own way, is a 'dangerous story'. a strangely gentle novel about wartime conflict, violence, and chaos. Nigel Featherstone explores the emotional currents running between friend and friend, child and parent, lover and beloved. The novel is set in a time and place where everyone is vulnerable and anyone might be shot, betrayed, captured or abandoned, but love of all kinds endures. if the reader wants setting, description, action at breakneck speed and a bittersweet ending, Bodies of Men will give it all... if you want a tender and remarkable story of discovery and fidelity, this is the book for you. Bodies of men, then, is a war novel that questions war. But, it is told with a generous touch that doesn't undermine or betray those who choose to go. It's a page-turner, underpinned by a fundamental understanding of humanity. It's a very good read. the novel is worth reading for Featherstone's keen understanding of desire and the consequences of generosity Extended Review Expand reviews