The Railway Man by Eric Lomax

Published in 1995, is the true story of Eric Lomax’s experience during the Second World War.   The first two chapters set the scene of life for an ordinary boy growing up in Scotland and his love of trains.   These first chapters are in stark contrast to the rest of the book.  At the age of 20 Lomax joins the Royal Corps of Signals and is in Singapore during the Second World War when it falls to the Japanese. Captured, he is taken to a POW camp in Kanburi, Thailand.  The camp is on the notorious Burma-Siam Railway.   To start with the POW camp in Kanburi is fairly relaxed and Lomax is among a group of POWs who, because of their technical knowledge, are needed to work in the camp’s workshops repairing engines.  Slowly the tension increases as more and more POWs are sent to work on building the railway track itself.   Lomax and his fellow workers get over confident and steal components to make a crude radio in order that they can hear the news and follow the progress of the war.  They set up communication channels with men passing on news bulletins further up the line.  The radio is discovered and Lomax has to face the brutality of his Japanese captors.   The story is told in a measured, honest way.  I found the scenes of torture hard to read, but the story isn’t just about suffering, it is about the camaraderie between the prisoners and their courage.  It also highlights the strength of the human spirit.   Lomax survives his ordeal and the war ends.  Lomax’s physical wounds start to heal, but the mental scars of torture don’t and so, with an unexpected sadness, the reader is taken on Lomax’s journey back home where he is expected to pick up the pieces of his old life and carry on.  It is, at times, a harrowing read.  It never ceases to amaze me the brutality humans can inflict on each other, but the climax to the story is uplifting as Lomax faces one of his tormentors.  The story of their meeting is told in a measured, unsentimental way and shows the power of forgiveness.  It is an extremely moving read.       

Spilt Milk by Amanda Hodgkinson

The story begins in 1913 on the banks of a river in Suffolk with three sisters, Rose, Vivian and Nellie Marsh.  Rose has raised Vivian and Nellie and they live a simple, almost reclusive life in their cottage by the river.  It turns out that Rose had secrets of her own.  The death of Rose and the arrival of a stranger causes conflict between the two remaining sisters forcing them apart.  But Nellie can’t stay away from the river for long and returns in time to save Vivian, but not Vivian’s new born baby.  Nellie buries the baby in the river to avoid any questions and scandal.  This one impulsive act will remain a secret between the sisters, casting a shadow over their future.  Vivian and Nellie had promised Rose that they would never marry and would always stay together in the cottage by the river.    With the arrival of war, things change forever.  The sisters marry and move away, leaving their simple life and home by the river.  It takes Birdie, Nellie’s daughter, to close the circle and to finally bring peace to all their lives. 

Cultural references are used such as films, music, fashion to indicate each new decade with great effect.  The story covers a much longer period than Amanda’s first novel, 22 Britannia Road, and hence there are more characters, all realistically drawn.  Amanda’s prose is beautiful.  I like the way that the story starts and finishes with the river in flood. 

All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable read.