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This Red Earth
On the cusp of summer 1939, another war has begun in Europe. Bernie Cooper is wondering what might be in it for her; she’s looking for adventure, some way to stretch her wings. The boy next door, Gordon Brock, is wondering if Bernie will marry him – before he heads off on his own adventure, his first job as a geologist with an oil company in New Guinea.
But the war has plans for them both neither could have imagined in their wildest nightmares.
As Gordon braces for the Japanese invasion of Rabaul, Bernie finally finds her purpose in the midst of the battle being fought on home soil – against the worst drought in living memory, the menace of an unseen enemy, and the torment of not knowing if those dear to her are alive or dead.
From the beaches of Sydney to the dusty heart of the continent, This Red Earth is a love letter to Australia, with all its beauty and terror, and a tale of telling the truth – before it’s too late.
‘Kim Kelly seems to understand the sounds and scents of the country … The strength of This Red Earth is that it reads as authentic in terms of the times in which it is set. Yet it does not succumb to saccharine nostalgia and feels like you are looking through a wide and clear window back to the 40s.’ Helen Crompton, The West Australian
But the war has plans for them both neither could have imagined in their wildest nightmares.
As Gordon braces for the Japanese invasion of Rabaul, Bernie finally finds her purpose in the midst of the battle being fought on home soil – against the worst drought in living memory, the menace of an unseen enemy, and the torment of not knowing if those dear to her are alive or dead.
From the beaches of Sydney to the dusty heart of the continent, This Red Earth is a love letter to Australia, with all its beauty and terror, and a tale of telling the truth – before it’s too late.
‘Kim Kelly seems to understand the sounds and scents of the country … The strength of This Red Earth is that it reads as authentic in terms of the times in which it is set. Yet it does not succumb to saccharine nostalgia and feels like you are looking through a wide and clear window back to the 40s.’ Helen Crompton, The West Australian
400 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2013
3 people are currently reading
113 people want to read
About the author
Kim Kelly
14 books188 followers‘Why can’t more people write like this?’ – The Age
‘colourful, evocative and energetic’ – Sydney Morning Herald
Kim Kelly is author thirteen novels. Among them are the bestselling, The Blue Mile, and critically acclaimed, Wild Chicory. Her novella, The Rat Catcher, was longlisted for the ARA Historical Novel Prize, and her latest, Ladies' Rest and Writing Room, was awarded the Finlay Lloyd 20/40 Prize.
Also a well-known book editor, Kim has a Master of Creative Writing from Macquarie University, for which she earned the Fred Rush Convocation Prize for writing. She is currently undertaking a PhD in literature at Macquarie.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
June 10, 2013
Alternatively narrated by both Bernadette (Bernie) Cooper and Gordon Brock, this novel started in 1939 when the onset of WW2 was very close. Bernie lived with her Mum and Dad in Coogee, Sydney, with Gordon boarding next door with Mrs Zoc, (full name Mrs Zoccini, but everyone called her Mrs Zoc). Bernie and Gordon would spend time at the beach, gazing out at Wedding Cake Island and enjoying the sunshine. Gordon was originally from Nyngan, and his Dad was still there on their property. Gordon was heading back on his motorbike to help with the shearing, as he was saving money to propose to Bernie; he had a ring on hold at Proud’s.
Bernie was confused…she knew Gordon (her Rock she called him, as he was a geologist) wanted to marry her, and she wanted to marry him, but she wanted a career too, she hated her job in Chalmers Department Store, and wanted more in her life. She wanted to be with her Rock, she loved him, didn’t she?
But when Gordon received an offer to go to New Guinea with a job for the government, all to do with rocks, mining near Rabaul, drilling for ore, and then her Dad was called to serve again – his second war, Bernie accepted Gordon’s proposal, and they were to be married on the 7th December, 1939. Gordon decided he would make good money to support Bernie, the contract was only for three years, and he could return home for the wedding!
So with Gordon in New Guinea, the war taking over, the Japanese invading and Singapore falling, Bernie decided she had to take her mind off her worry about both her father and Gordon. No mail was the worry, nothing seemed to get through, were they even getting her letters?
The wonderful narration of this book is what drew me in the most. Bernie is a real character, and I felt for her every step of the way. She had me laughing out loud at times, and in tears at other times. I loved the description of the country, the isolation of Hay, Willcania and the surrounding areas. The beauty of the Australian landscape has been described with knowledge and love, and author Kim Kelly has it down to a fine art.
With its secrets, love and heartbreak, harshness of the countryside and devastation of war, I have no hesitation in recommending this fantastic book to everyone.
With thanks to the author and publisher Pan Macmillan for my copy of this book.
Bernie was confused…she knew Gordon (her Rock she called him, as he was a geologist) wanted to marry her, and she wanted to marry him, but she wanted a career too, she hated her job in Chalmers Department Store, and wanted more in her life. She wanted to be with her Rock, she loved him, didn’t she?
But when Gordon received an offer to go to New Guinea with a job for the government, all to do with rocks, mining near Rabaul, drilling for ore, and then her Dad was called to serve again – his second war, Bernie accepted Gordon’s proposal, and they were to be married on the 7th December, 1939. Gordon decided he would make good money to support Bernie, the contract was only for three years, and he could return home for the wedding!
So with Gordon in New Guinea, the war taking over, the Japanese invading and Singapore falling, Bernie decided she had to take her mind off her worry about both her father and Gordon. No mail was the worry, nothing seemed to get through, were they even getting her letters?
The wonderful narration of this book is what drew me in the most. Bernie is a real character, and I felt for her every step of the way. She had me laughing out loud at times, and in tears at other times. I loved the description of the country, the isolation of Hay, Willcania and the surrounding areas. The beauty of the Australian landscape has been described with knowledge and love, and author Kim Kelly has it down to a fine art.
With its secrets, love and heartbreak, harshness of the countryside and devastation of war, I have no hesitation in recommending this fantastic book to everyone.
With thanks to the author and publisher Pan Macmillan for my copy of this book.
June 21, 2018
Another amazing novel from Kim Kelly and one I devoured with gusto.
I can always rely on this author to provide me with significant historical events - a lesson in Australia’s past, so to speak - Kim Kelly’s research is phenomenal and she writes with such passion that any tale penned by this author is riveting and hypnotic so it’s no wonder tears well in the eyes mid book and flow heavily by the time the last page is turned.
At first I struggled with the beginning 50 pages as I found the writing style a bit unusual, however chapter after chapter I warmed to the writing style and eventually found fascinating - you could almost say is old fashioned with a unique Australian flavour.
…likeable characters and a bloody good yarn that needs to be read! Highly recommended.
*Book 'k' of the a-z author challenge 2018
I can always rely on this author to provide me with significant historical events - a lesson in Australia’s past, so to speak - Kim Kelly’s research is phenomenal and she writes with such passion that any tale penned by this author is riveting and hypnotic so it’s no wonder tears well in the eyes mid book and flow heavily by the time the last page is turned.
At first I struggled with the beginning 50 pages as I found the writing style a bit unusual, however chapter after chapter I warmed to the writing style and eventually found fascinating - you could almost say is old fashioned with a unique Australian flavour.
…likeable characters and a bloody good yarn that needs to be read! Highly recommended.
*Book 'k' of the a-z author challenge 2018
August 20, 2017
Another fabulous story full of love, drama, intrigue and the beautiful and hard land that is Australia. I fell in love with the characters in this story, I lived through the good, the bad and the terrible times with them as if I were there. Once again Kim Kelly draws us in and let's us live the history of this land and it's people. The second world war was a terrible time, it's a sad thing that nothing was ever really learnt from it when it comes to the people in power. I highly recommend this novel and can't wait to read another Kim Kelly story.
February 16, 2014
I don't usually choose historical fiction or romances, but anxious to read a local author and interested about my new home, I gave it a go.
Despite my naïvete of the genre, I was enchanted by the descriptions of the landscape and society of wartime New South Wales. Kim Kelly paints a vivid picture, with details so alive that, even though I'm new to this part of the world, I felt as though I've lived here all my life.
Within the first few pages I fell in love with Bernie. I felt her struggle to have a life that mattered and shared it with her. Even as connected as I felt, that came second to the descriptions of the setting. I was thrown into that time completely.
If I were going to cross into the uncharted territory of historical romances, This Red Earth was the book to bridge the distances.
-J
Despite my naïvete of the genre, I was enchanted by the descriptions of the landscape and society of wartime New South Wales. Kim Kelly paints a vivid picture, with details so alive that, even though I'm new to this part of the world, I felt as though I've lived here all my life.
Within the first few pages I fell in love with Bernie. I felt her struggle to have a life that mattered and shared it with her. Even as connected as I felt, that came second to the descriptions of the setting. I was thrown into that time completely.
If I were going to cross into the uncharted territory of historical romances, This Red Earth was the book to bridge the distances.
-J
May 1, 2013
This Red Earth is a World War Two romantic adventure set in Australia but it’s outside the usual routine and I love that. Light and bright but with a nice depth as well. It focuses on what the war experience was like at the home front and the drought that devastated the land at that time, looking at the politics and attitudes of the time too, but it doesn’t hit you over the head with the history. Lots of interesting details I’d never read about before – about the internment camps for 'foreigners' in the outback, the massacre of Australian soldiers in New Guinea at the start of the war, the search for uranium for the atom bomb – lots of stuff going on in this novel! It’s in turns funny and heartbreaking – and very Australian in flavour. I loved the lovers especially – Gordon and Bernie – and they kept me guessing until the end. One of the best Aussie sagas I’ve read in a while - unexpected gem.
March 26, 2021
This has been on my TBR list for a long time and I am glad I finally got to reading it. The story begins around the outbreak of WWII and is told in the alternate voices of Bernie and Gordon. You are really taken inside the minds of these 2 characters, which at the beginning was hard to get the rhythm, but once I did the story took off. It is more than a love story, it's a very Australian story and was at times sad, frustrating, funny and mad.
January 15, 2014
The lives and loves of this very Australian tale leap like cattle dogs off the page. The weaving of historical fact (especially on uranium and the bomb) is very clever. The tone and pacing are terrific too, no mean feat over the distance. I liked a lot of the details - the female protagonist Bernie gets the rough end of a 'squattocratic transaction' and I laughed out loud at the impish plotting that has her true love Gordie seeing Bernie's novel when he's about to pash his new belle. Sure, you know exactly what's gonna happen from the first word, but it's a gripping, convincing and persuasive ride. For all the conventions of the genre, I can't imagine the laborist view of history in and beyond the lives of the protagonists has ever been so well put, and pretty seamlessly so in this kind of novel. Perhaps it's a feminist alternative to Horrible Histories - teaching mainly boys history through gore - why not tell the truths of war, colonialism and racism through a romance? A cracker.
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August 12, 2016This Red Earth is a wonderful story about two people in wartime Australia, and while the author says it is fiction, the research and factual content makes this both entertaining and educational. What a very long way we have come in terms of our communications. Young people who have grown up with mobile phones etc should read this story so they can appreciate the difficulties experienced in communicating across this vast and wonderful country. I have such an appreciation for the CWA and other women/associations who worked as their men went o/s.
April 21, 2020
Phew just finished in time for the New Year!
Thanks to Kim Kelly for gifting me this copy.
Thanks to Kim Kelly for gifting me this copy.
April 6, 2023
A romantic adventure/historical fiction told in alternating voices by Bernie and Gordon. The latter part is a series of missed timings as Bernie and Gordon keep missing each other just when they want to make important declarations.
Kim Kelly uses great detail of time and place so that we readers can visualise the settings.
On the cusp of summer 1939, another war has begun in Europe. Bernie Cooper is wondering what might be in it for her; she's looking for adventure, some way to stretch her wings. The boy next door, Gordon Brock, is wondering if Bernie will marry him - before he heads off on his own adventure, his first job as a geologist with an oil company in New Guinea.
But the war has plans for them both neither could have imagined in their wildest nightmares.
As Gordon braces for the Japanese invasion of Rabaul, Bernie finally finds her purpose in the midst of the battle being fought on home soil - against the worst drought in living memory, the menace of an unseen enemy, and the torment of not knowing if those dear to her are alive or dead.
From the beaches of Sydney to the dusty heart of the continent, This Red Earth is a love letter to Australia, with all its beauty and terror, and a tale of telling the truth - before it's too late.
Kim Kelly uses great detail of time and place so that we readers can visualise the settings.
On the cusp of summer 1939, another war has begun in Europe. Bernie Cooper is wondering what might be in it for her; she's looking for adventure, some way to stretch her wings. The boy next door, Gordon Brock, is wondering if Bernie will marry him - before he heads off on his own adventure, his first job as a geologist with an oil company in New Guinea.
But the war has plans for them both neither could have imagined in their wildest nightmares.
As Gordon braces for the Japanese invasion of Rabaul, Bernie finally finds her purpose in the midst of the battle being fought on home soil - against the worst drought in living memory, the menace of an unseen enemy, and the torment of not knowing if those dear to her are alive or dead.
From the beaches of Sydney to the dusty heart of the continent, This Red Earth is a love letter to Australia, with all its beauty and terror, and a tale of telling the truth - before it's too late.
August 31, 2024
Historical romance... well researched, set in Australia and New Guinea, a love story between Bernie and Gordon (Brock/Rock) told in chapters alternating each character's parallel story. 3 stars rather than 4 as the densely packed text was sparse on dialogue and the inevitable misunderstandings and miscommunication between the two lovers got a bit tedious. All is well that ends well though and the well researched historical context and descriptions of Australia and New Guinea means this is a much better read than many romance/chic lits.
July 15, 2017
The chapters in this book are alternately narrated by the two main characters. The story line is good but I just found this a difficult book to become engaged with.
April 16, 2024
3.5 stars
August 14, 2024
I enjoy the way this author's writing makes you feel that are in the time and place, but at times I did get irritated with Gordon and Bernie and their relationship.
January 23, 2025
I really wanted to like this book. But such flakey, unlikable main characters detracted from the book.
May 6, 2019
This Red Earth
by
Kim Kelly
This Red Earth commences at the outbreak of, and during World War II. In reality it is a story of a wartime romance in which we follow Bernadette's (Bernie) and Gordon's romance. Their relationship and the war time stresses it endures are central to the plot.
Gordon endeavours to avoid the conflict by finding a geologist’s job which sees him in Rabaul, while Bernie is at home trying to keep herself in work. The long distance romance suffers when mail does not reach the recipient which draws conclusions, incorrectly, that love has fizzled out.
There are several reasons why I enjoyed This Red Earth. In no particular order they are; the era in which it was set; the main plot; it gave an insight into the lives of migrants and how they were treated during that conflict. Finally, This Red Earth was a reasonably well paced story.
Most audiobooks tend to have one narrator reading the lines of both genders. This Red Earth, consisted of two fairly distinct story lines used a male and female narrator. Listeners are left in no doubt as to which or whose, story they are listening to. Good narrators are the backbone of any novel in my opinion.
At the time if writing my review other Goodreads readers have rated This Red Earth an average of 4.16 stars, from 63 ratings and 15 reviews.
by
Kim Kelly
This Red Earth commences at the outbreak of, and during World War II. In reality it is a story of a wartime romance in which we follow Bernadette's (Bernie) and Gordon's romance. Their relationship and the war time stresses it endures are central to the plot.
Gordon endeavours to avoid the conflict by finding a geologist’s job which sees him in Rabaul, while Bernie is at home trying to keep herself in work. The long distance romance suffers when mail does not reach the recipient which draws conclusions, incorrectly, that love has fizzled out.
There are several reasons why I enjoyed This Red Earth. In no particular order they are; the era in which it was set; the main plot; it gave an insight into the lives of migrants and how they were treated during that conflict. Finally, This Red Earth was a reasonably well paced story.
Most audiobooks tend to have one narrator reading the lines of both genders. This Red Earth, consisted of two fairly distinct story lines used a male and female narrator. Listeners are left in no doubt as to which or whose, story they are listening to. Good narrators are the backbone of any novel in my opinion.
At the time if writing my review other Goodreads readers have rated This Red Earth an average of 4.16 stars, from 63 ratings and 15 reviews.
July 1, 2015
I am really enjoying reading Kim Kellie's books and seem to unable to put them down once I start. There's lots to like about this book though I do occasionally feel the language style is more 21st century rather than of the time period but that doesn't detract from them overall. I did wonder about the ending of this one though.
November 1, 2014
A romance set against the backdrop of WWII New South Wales. The hero relocates to New Guinea in search of oil, and the heroine finds herself teaching interns' children in the outback. Wartime communication systems fail to keep the couple in touch. Will they find one another again?
May 8, 2013
Meticulously researched, very Australian, likeable characters and a really good yarn.
January 5, 2016
Loved it!
September 7, 2016
loved it
January 9, 2017
My favourite of Kim's books, the first I read, and since then I've not been disappointed in her others.
If you want to be transported into another place and time, then pick up this book.
If you want to be transported into another place and time, then pick up this book.
October 19, 2016
I really liked this book, will keep my eye on this author
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews