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Freddy's War
Winner of the 2012 Robert Kroetsch City of Edmonton Book Prize
In 1941, a young man imagines thrilling battles and heroic acts when he lies about his age and joins the army. Assigned to the Winnipeg Grenadiers, part of the Canadian army in Hong Kong, Freddy McKee becomes a prisoner of war six weeks after arriving in Hong Kong.
Five years pass and Freddy finally returns home from the war, but three women—Joanna Keegan, her daughter Hope, and the beautiful and mysterious Su Li—feel echoes of Freddy's ordeal in each of their lives. For Freddy, the memory of war is a heavier burden than the weapon he once carried. And he must fight to survive in a world that has left him behind.
"Veterans traditionally have never shared the hell of their war. Often the only way to get close to their experiences is via skillful fiction. Gritty and well-researched, Freddy's War takes us to the siege of Hong Kong and back." —Ted Barris, author and military historian
"Wartime love stories are the stuff of cliché, but there's no false sentimentality in Freddy's War. With a cool reporter's eye, Schultz draws on her deep knowledge of China, and of prairie social history, to craft an understated, elegaic story of loneliness, loss, and dislocation." —Paula Simons, Edmonton Journal
In 1941, a young man imagines thrilling battles and heroic acts when he lies about his age and joins the army. Assigned to the Winnipeg Grenadiers, part of the Canadian army in Hong Kong, Freddy McKee becomes a prisoner of war six weeks after arriving in Hong Kong.
Five years pass and Freddy finally returns home from the war, but three women—Joanna Keegan, her daughter Hope, and the beautiful and mysterious Su Li—feel echoes of Freddy's ordeal in each of their lives. For Freddy, the memory of war is a heavier burden than the weapon he once carried. And he must fight to survive in a world that has left him behind.
"Veterans traditionally have never shared the hell of their war. Often the only way to get close to their experiences is via skillful fiction. Gritty and well-researched, Freddy's War takes us to the siege of Hong Kong and back." —Ted Barris, author and military historian
"Wartime love stories are the stuff of cliché, but there's no false sentimentality in Freddy's War. With a cool reporter's eye, Schultz draws on her deep knowledge of China, and of prairie social history, to craft an understated, elegaic story of loneliness, loss, and dislocation." —Paula Simons, Edmonton Journal
- GenresHistorical FictionCanada
264 pages, Paperback
First published August 4, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 8, 2024
I'll be honest and say that I was surprised that I enjoyed this book as much as I did and more than I first thought I would. I'm not a big fan of jumping back and forth in time, but once the story settled, I enjoyed it more.
What made this book was the characters. I think that Freddy's complex character really made this an interesting read that kept me turning the pages.
One thing missing is that I would have liked to have learned more from Freddy himself as to why he couldn't control himself, doing what he didn't want to do. That part was a bit frustrating as it would have made his character even stronger than it already was.
I'll be honest and say that the cover picture doesn't do the book justice. In fact, it is distracting and off putting. But having said that, it was a great leisure read that I may go back one day and read again.
If you like historical fiction you will probably find this book a good read.
What made this book was the characters. I think that Freddy's complex character really made this an interesting read that kept me turning the pages.
One thing missing is that I would have liked to have learned more from Freddy himself as to why he couldn't control himself, doing what he didn't want to do. That part was a bit frustrating as it would have made his character even stronger than it already was.
I'll be honest and say that the cover picture doesn't do the book justice. In fact, it is distracting and off putting. But having said that, it was a great leisure read that I may go back one day and read again.
If you like historical fiction you will probably find this book a good read.
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July 8, 2012The novel centres on a young Freddy McKee born in the early 1920’s. Glorifying and playing war, as kids do, Freddy was busting to get in on the action when war broke out in Europe in 1939. Being only 15 years old Freddy lies about his age and enlists in the army. Immediately he is shipped to Winnipeg for basic training and in a blink sent overseas to Hong Kong to begin his adventures.
Six weeks in he is captured by the enemy and spends the next 6 years in a concentration camp. Not quite the adventure he had planned.
What I admired most about this novel are the pains the author takes not to sensationalize the brutality and inhumanity common to concentration camps of the era. We have all heard those stories. This book focuses on the mental strain and difficulties of Freddy trying to assimilate a normal life and routine after surviving such an ordeal. The day to day of struggling to fit in slowly takes its toll and we see a man self destruct over decades abusing and alienating all those who love him in his caustic wake.
We used to refer to the syndrome as Shell Shock, then Acute Stress Disorder and now Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The name gets longer and help becomes more available through the decades but in 1945 that wasn’t so. Alcoholism, cruelty and disorientation were the standard methods of coping.
Definitely a good read.
John Archibald, April 2012
Six weeks in he is captured by the enemy and spends the next 6 years in a concentration camp. Not quite the adventure he had planned.
What I admired most about this novel are the pains the author takes not to sensationalize the brutality and inhumanity common to concentration camps of the era. We have all heard those stories. This book focuses on the mental strain and difficulties of Freddy trying to assimilate a normal life and routine after surviving such an ordeal. The day to day of struggling to fit in slowly takes its toll and we see a man self destruct over decades abusing and alienating all those who love him in his caustic wake.
We used to refer to the syndrome as Shell Shock, then Acute Stress Disorder and now Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The name gets longer and help becomes more available through the decades but in 1945 that wasn’t so. Alcoholism, cruelty and disorientation were the standard methods of coping.
Definitely a good read.
John Archibald, April 2012
December 20, 2013
This book is a very powerful description of post traumatic stress disorder. Freddy is only seventeen but he signs up to go to war. He is assigned to the Winnipeg Grenadiers and is involved in the horrendous battle in Hong Kong in 1941. He is taken as prisoner of war by the Japanese for 5 years where he suffers hard labour in mines and torture. Freddy arrives back in Canada and tries to live a normal life but the memory of war weighs him down and also affects the people he loves.
A well researched novel.
A well researched novel.
November 1, 2011
This is a powerful, remarkable novel about a life gone wrong due to the horrors of war. How many lives of how many good-hearted persons like Freddy got derailed, with little help available or possible to help them through the pain of ever-lasting and painful memories... The slight error regarding the year of the end of WWII with Japan(put on two occasions as being August 1946) does not diminish the value of this account, told from different angles. A must-read.
February 12, 2016
Set on the prairies of Canada - the characters on this book feel like they could be your friends and neighbors
- starting with an underprivileged upbringing, choices made , joining the war and the personal horrors and after effects -
- starting with an underprivileged upbringing, choices made , joining the war and the personal horrors and after effects -
September 30, 2012
I love how it was written
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews