Doris van der Stratten: The Australian Mistress of the Japanese Commander of Kuala Lumpur

by Andrew Barber

The true story of Doris van der Stratten, an Australian house-wife who, at the onset of the Second World War, survived a massacre, a five-month treck through the jungles of Malaya, incarceration with Prisoners of War and then became the mistress of the Japanese Commander in Kuala Lumpur. This is the story of her extraordinary life.

108 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 17, 2016

Reviews

[Jasmin Mohd-zain · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ahh.........I was a little let down by the title or maybe I was expecting too much, like a tale of Matahari-like spy yarn to make my afternoon a little exciting.

What's in the story? A string of names and dates about people that were gleaned from records and archives. Plenty of conjecture on what actually happened. No real answer as to how and why she became a comfort woman of such a high ranking officer Colonel Koda, the Kempetai that kept her captive , because nothing much was said or identified about him; although he was said to be the Japanese Commander of Kuala Lumpur during the Jap occupation.

Andrew Barber has written other books that I like.....but give this one a miss and read his pictorial " Malaysian Moments " book instead.