Bodies of Men

by Nigel Featherstone

Shortlisted for the ACT Book of the Year 2020Shortlisted for the 2019 Queensland Literary Awards - FICTIONLonglisted for the 2020 ARA Historical Novel Prize2019 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 ReviewThere 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 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

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, LGBT, Australia, Historical, Book Club, M M Romance

267 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2019

About the author

Nigel Featherstone is an Australian writer for the page, stage, and music. His most recent work is The Wreck Event, a 16-song spokenword-and-music album under the moniker Hell Herons collaboration with award-winning poets Melinda Smith, Stuart Barnes, and CJ Bowerbird. Nigel’s most recent novel, My Heart is a Little Wild Thing, was published by Ultimo Press (Hardie Grant) in 2022. It has been described as ‘Epic in its intimacy–a triumph of a book’ (Peter Polites), ‘A remarkable look at Australian masculinity and its meaning’ (Newtown Review of Books), and ‘Yearning and intimate’ (West Australian). Nigel’s war novel, Bodies of Men, was published by Hachette Australia in 2019. It was longlisted for the 2020 ARA Historical Novel Prize, shortlisted for the 2020 ACT Book of the Year, and shortlisted in the 2019 Queensland Literary Awards. His short works - prose and poetry - have appeared in numerous literary journals such as the Review of Australian Fiction, Meanjin, Overland, Rabbit, Island, The Millions and the Chicago Quarterly Review. In terms of theatre, Nigel’s play with spokenword songs, The Story of the Oars, had its world premiere in 2025 at The Street Theatre, Canberra. As commissioned by the Hume Conservatorium, he wrote the libretto for The Weight of Light, which was developed by The Street Theatre and had its world premiere in 2018. As a freelancer, Nigel’s work has appeared in a variety of mastheads and journals, including the Sydney Morning Herald, Guardian Australia, and the Chicago Quarterly Review. In 2022, Nigel was named the ACT Artist of the Year. He is represented by Gaby Naher, The Naher Agency, Sydney.

Reviews

[Amanda - Mrs B's Book Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

*https://mrsbbookreviews.wordpress.com
Published widely throughout Australia, Nigel Featherstone is best known for his story collection piece Joy, his debut novel and popular novellas. Holding tenures at the well known writing residences of Varuna and Bundanon, has put Nigel Featherstone in excellent standing to produce his latest work of literary fiction, Bodies of Men. A book of both tragedy and self reflection, Bodies of Men charts the evolving relationship between two men, both soldiers in the Second World War.

Bodies of Men opens in the year 1941 in Egypt when a defining event takes place. This event will forever shape the lives of the two lead protagonists of the tale, William Marsh and James Kelly. Bodies of Men is a story of great danger and personal liability as two men assess their true feelings and search for restitution.

What immediately struck me about Bodies of Men was the desolate cover. The ruined buildings, products of the spoils of war and the stark landscape really impacted me. From my first impression of Bodies of Men I surmised that this novel was going to be about broken lives and the ravages of war. Although my finger wasn’t quite on the pulse with this prediction, Bodies of Men is a tragic story that unfolds under the backdrop of war, restrictions, oppression and survival.

Bodies of Men is a well composed story. Featherstone’s prose impressed me. It is light, but at the same time deeply emotive, conveying a great deal within a sparse format. The words spoken in this novel are deeply affective and they seem to infiltrate into your soul, so that you cannot help but be moved by the stories of the two soldiers present in this tale. Likewise, I found the dialogue to be authentic and rooted within the context of the time period in which these characters are situated. There is a bleak but powerful reality that underpins the entire novel, which I appreciated very much.

Bodies of Men is much more than a standard war experience story. War is an overriding theme, but it is offset by the power of childhood bonds, relationships, family, friendships, responsibilities, societal expectations, class distinctions, trauma, duty, morality, acceptance and love. I believe Nigel Featherstone has achieved a great deal in the process of penning a book such as Bodies of Men. This novel works to break down a number of barriers, with a particular focus on the restrictions faced by soldiers such as the two men featured in this novel. Months of military research conducted by the author, which has been fully injected into this novel, adds weight to these experiences.

Bodies of Men is 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.



*Thanks is extended to Hachette Australia for providing a free copy of this book for review purposes.

[Khulud Khamis · Rating 5 out of 5]

"There is nothing more important than love and refuge."

I read this beautiful and tender novel in two days. Only a few pages into the novel, I felt like the outside world was slowly beginning to fall away. Something was happening to me as a reader, and I couldn't understand this until somewhere around the middle of the novel.
There is something about Nigel Featherstone's writing - his style, his voice, the way he structures and crafts his sentences with so much care and love - that gives an overall atmosphere of quiet and calmness that seeps beyond the pages of the book and affects the reader's own experience of the world and her surroundings. At least, this was the effect on me. Amidst modern life's stressful existence, I was filled with calmness and an inner quiet while reading this book.

Featherstone's unassuming and gentle style perfectly corresponds to the story crafted and narrated in this novel. It is a beautiful and moving love story between two men - one confident in his sexual identity, while the other struggles with it for the large part of the novel - set amidst World War II in Egypt. Both James and William are faced with dangers and events that break them, yet as a reader, I felt confident in Featherstone that he would not break the characters in ways that could not be healed.

Featherstone hasn't shied away from presenting complex relationships between sons and fathers.

There is also the unforgettable character of Yetta, who has clearly had a difficult life, yet has managed to heal in Egypt. She is a fragile soul, and in one scene we get a glimpse of her exposed, damaged soul in a raw and painful way. However, even here, Featherstone shows grace and gentleness towards his characters and shows us the humanity of the scene, with all the pain and possible shame that could be entailed in it.

I liked the way some questions were left unanswered, such as the identity of the man in the car, who picks up James, William, and William's mother, Nellie, and who called Nellie "darling." Although William makes attempts at uncovering the man's identity, it remains unknown both to William as well as to the readers, which is perfectly OK, as in real life we are always left with quite many unanswered questions.

I read the last 20 pages of the novel extremely slowly: on the one hand, I wanted to know the end, although I felt where it was leading to, but on the other hand I just did not want this book to be over.

I am now rushing to order everything else Featherstone ever wrote, as well as read his blog, where he's been most recently publishing his "Diary of Bodies." The blog - Under the counter or a flutter in the dovecote: Stuff from the guts of Australian writer Nigel Featherstone - is at the following address: https://nigelfeatherstone.wordpress.com/

[Holden Sheppard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bodies of Men is an incredible and touching novel and a beautifully written one at that. As a gay man it made me feel so many things, and I slowed down so much for the last 50 pages because I sensed the ending might not go the way I wanted it to go. This book is exquisite: a tale of love between two men, two Aussie soldiers, set in North Africa during WW2. The writing is crisp and restrained throughout: William and James are both masculine and men of their era, and in other ways they are depicted as very human: vulnerable, primally wounded, occasionally gentle. The bond between them was so exciting to read as it developed. I loved how the harsh landscape of the desert reflected their times apart, while the passages set in Alexandria had a warm, dreamlike quality about them. I connected with the two main characters on a deep level - maybe most with William - but both will stay with me for a long time, as will this story. Featherstone's prose is exactly the type I like to read: clean and clear without unnecessary frills, but replete with wonderful imagery and metaphors and a kind and gentle voice.

Probably my favourite book of 2019 so far: it really had a remarkable impact on me as both a man and as an author.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

4 1/2 stars. This was a wonderful book. Both characters had my empathy from the start and I loved their backstory. Th way their paths crossed so infrequently was heartbreaking.

[PaperMoon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Update: My 3rd favorite read for 2020.
_________________________________

What do we discover after ‘Johnny comes marching back home’? Putting many many films, books, treatises and psychological studies aside, this book gives readers a glimpse into what is encapsulated within the bodies of men who come back from war - not just the expected witnessed traumatic acts of violence and killing, sublimated feelings of helplessness, anger and horror, lost hopes and dreams, shattered identities and self-worth, but also the moments of pure joy, love transcendent and lost. Embedded in such bodies are a time period and lived experience kept separate and apart from their post-war civilian existence.

The author grabbed my attention from the first pages, fostering concern and empathy for both Australian MCs who are forever changed by their enemy engagements in WW2 Eqypt – James who naively promised his mother to return unchanged and unsullied, and William who strove to attain and maintain his father’s decreed ideals of heroic masculinity. Both are forced to confront the consequences of their actions/inaction; finding acceptance and love despite. And yet, interspersed between the brutality of war-time engagements, the MCs find themselves ensconced in a safe haven of peace & healing located within the city of Alexandria.

An unfolding sequence of childhood events/memories linking James and William are skillfully inserted into separate 1941 story-lines whereby each MC has significant dealings with some memorable secondary characters - most notable being Yetta, but then, I was quite taken with the female characters overall e.g. James’ mother, Jillian, Ana.

I really tried to slow down my reading as the ending approached, with an impending sense of exposure and military retribution for our MCs. I plowed through to an emotionally harrowing finale but then had to re-read the final section three times over to savor all the nuanced clues and tidbits left by the author on how these two MCs attempted to rebuild their lives in the aftermath. But oh! what an amazing final line (I could not see through my tears)!

This is definitely a 5-plus star read – IMO up there with the best of M-M WW reads e.g. The Boy I Love, The Fallen Snow, The Open Arms of the Sea, The Charioteer and some of Garrick Jones’ books. I fully expect this will prove to be my 2nd favorite book for 2020.

[Bronwen Stead · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and will definitely be reading the authors other works. The author leads you into a unique story with some truly unexpected characters. At its heart it is a story about love and the courage it can take to pursue it. Just beautiful

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sometimes, publishers seem to do their authors no favours at all. Their blurb with its war story scenario and its “secrets”. “risking it all” and “dangerous territory” gives no hint of what the story is really about. Blurbs gushing about ‘secrets’ are usually referring to much more banal matters than the dark side of war: pacifism; same-sex relationships, war crimes by your own side, and desertion. Based on that deceptive blurb I had made assumptions about Bodies of Men that turned out to be wrong. So I’m grateful to Sue for her review, and I urge you to read it. (See https://whisperinggums.com/2019/06/07...)
So, what is the book about? First and foremost, it’s the love story of two soldiers, beginning with the tender affection of young people who do not really know what it might mean. But it’s more than that because the novel explores what masculinity is, in a scenario that begins by testing bravery under fire on the battlefield but moves on to testing courage in different ways.
William Marsh (at least initially) follows the script laid down by his bombastic father. His family is North Shore Sydney; his father is an MP; and William has been brought up to be part of a military tradition. And James Kelly also follows the script laid down by his socialist, pacifist widowed mother, keeping aloof from the rush to enlist, at least in the beginning. It is the cowardly behaviour of other people that makes him decide to enlist after all.

To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2019/06/30/b...

[Nancy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I expected a completely different narrative
father-son relationship with the conflict
of accepting his son’s (William) adult relationship
with James…friend since childhood.
Unfortunately that was not the case.
Subplot Ernst/Yetta Hillen and their search for son in Polish resistance
felt out of place. It did not interest me at all.
All in all the writing lacked depth that I enjoyed in
Featherstone’s novellas
by Nigel Featherstone
by Nigel Featherstone

[Sophie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just want to build a blanket fort for James and William and give them all the time in the world.

This is a beautiful, quiet, lovely little novel, and I am so excited to be able to press it into the hands of as many readers as I can.

It’s a beautiful LGBTQ+ love story more than anything else, slow and character driven, but it examines the complexities of patriotism and the effects of war on those on the margins. The writing is lovely and beautifully crafted; each sentence has clearly been carved with love and precision.

I rarely read books by people I know because I’m always afraid that I won’t like them. But I genuinely loved this, and I’m so glad I had the privilege of being able to read this.

[Ceyrone · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was unexpected. This has been on my list of books to read for sometime now and it definitely did not disappoint. I was a bit hesitant as it’s set in Egypt during times of war, I was worried about the portrayal of the Egyptians. I have to say, I really love this. It’s a beautifully written story, it’s sad, it’s gentle and sensitive set in the time of war. The story follows William and James. They form a friendship when they were young that turns into an infatuation that becomes an adult love affair after an accident leaves James incapacitated. In the backdrop of war in Egypt in 1941 Nigel has written an emotion filled story, and he can also write an amazing action scene. This is a beautifully described story of friendship and romantic love that was not easy in a time of strict moral codes and laws, with harsh punishments for anyone who crossed the line. It is ultimately a story about what it’s like to be a man, the commitments, the familial pressures, expectations, desires, pleasure. I highly recommend this.

‘…there are three types of courage. There is the courage to stay the course. There is the courage to admit this is not for me. And then there is the courage to love. The wise person knows which type of courage they need, and when and why.’

[Cass Moriarty · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Bodies of Men (Hachette Australia Books 2019), author Nigel Featherstone has depicted a tender and moving love story set amidst the backdrop of war. In Egypt in 1941, Australian corporal William Marsh, aged only 21, is saved from enemy fire by a fellow soldier and childhood friend, James Kelly. Despite a strong attraction as young boys, their families and society has pulled them apart, and the fact that they are both involved in the incident in Alexandria is a coincidence. In the midst of the confusion, James disappears.
William is sent to supervise an army stores depot in the Western Desert but is also given another – private – role: to find a soldier who has gone AWOL. That soldier is James Kelly. The two men’s stories are told separately – William’s work with his battalion, and James’ mysterious period of hiding in the home of a local family, itself riddled with secrets. But gradually, as William’s search for the missing soldier leads him to where – and why – James is hiding, the relationship between the two men reignites and becomes a force too strong to deny.
This is a beautifully described story of friendship and romantic love that was not easy in a time of strict moral codes and laws, with harsh punishments for anyone who crossed the line. William and James must hide their relationship from everyone: their families, their friends, and most of all their colleagues and the military machine for which they work. The story captures a time of distrust and disloyalty, a time when prejudices and shame were rife, when people were expected to behave in a certain way, and if they didn’t, the consequences could be dire. The complicated circumstances and conflicted loyalties of those affected by war – or involved in the resistance – are also examined. The blurb states: ‘There is nothing more important than love and refuge,’ a statement by one of the characters in the novel, but also a wonderful summary of all this story encompasses – love in all its forms (desire, pleasure, care, respect, companionship, commitment) and refuge of all shades, from the simplest show of honour or friendship to the life-changing risks of offering, or accepting, refuge and safe harbour. This book actually grew on me the more I read it, and while I found the beginning a little hard going, by about halfway I was thoroughly invested in the main characters, and by the end – a nail-biting and tense conclusion – I cared very deeply about what happened to them. This is a story of vulnerability and sacrifice, of persistence, of life-long yearning. It is a story about what it means to be a man in the world, and the many ways of becoming whole.

[JoshD · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bodies of Men is a so-called "M/M romance" - tailored to a very particular female audience, essentially Mills&Boon enthusiasts who like it a bit spicy. Despite being ostensibly a gay story, you won't find much enthusiasm for it among actual gay readers. To be fair, Featherstone writes nice enough prose and he knows his audience. He delivers romance that is all desperate yearning, thwarted desire, exotic settings and gallant gestures. Then cuts to the waves crashing on the shore. Bodies of Men delivers a strong inciting incident, but everything thereafter is underwhelming. Featherstone sucks at character and story structure. Whenever he generates some actual jeopardy, his characters neatly side-step it, so the only tension coms from situation, not from a narrative that builds with progressive complications and turning points. As a gay reader I found his treatment of the two main characters highly frustrating, bordering on offensive. William and James start out as teenagers in the heat of a sexual awakening. But when William's father takes a dislike to James, that's it; they just accept it. They don't even have the guts or gumption to hop on the Northern Line and meet in secret. Later, at the book's climax, W & J make a fervent pact to find each other after the war, no matter what. Only they don't. It takes them twenty years and a passionless marriage to get around to it. This isn't grand passion; it's barely mild interest. Essentially, Featherstone undermines a reasonably good climax with a damp smelly flannel of a lousy denouement. But, of course, it makes sense when you remember that the target audience is the FEMALE romance consumer. It's telling that the hottest sexual encounter is one between James and his rescuer, Yetta - not between the guys. There's also surprisingly little nuance around being gay in the services during wartime. There's a rich story there, but I guess it would be way too much for the ladies. Similarly, there's zero nuance around being a gay teen in the 1930s, where it could have helped make the boys at least slightly real. And the extent to which both James and William are devoted mummies' boys is, it has to be said, somewhat nauseating. In short, if you're a woman who finds boys with boys titillating, you might find Bodies of Men a good one-handed read. If you're a gay reader, go straight to The Bookshop (Darlinghurst) website for some better suggestions.

[Greg Barron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bodies of Men is a gentle and sensitively written story about two men who go to war. A boyhood infatuation becomes an adult love affair after an accident leaves James incapacitated and technically AWOL. Featherstone can write action, he proves that with a deadly skirmish with some holed-up Italian soldiers, but he's even better at writing emotion. Not your typical war story, but a good read, nonetheless.

[Jennifer (JC-S) · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘Back at home, he had often dreamt about the person he might be one day.’

Egypt, 1941. Corporal William Marsh, aged 21, is saved from enemy fire by a young man he thinks he recognises. Could it be James Kelly, a childhood friend from Sydney? James disappears. William is saved, and then is sent to supervise an army depot in the Western Desert. He is also given a private directive to find a soldier who has gone AWOL. The soldier? James Kelly. William is convinced it is his childhood friend.

William tracks down James, who has had an accident, and is recovering in the home of a local family.

‘How can we get by, James asked himself, when so much of life is beyond our control, when so much of it is unknowable.’

And while James recovers, and William learns about himself, the family James is staying with has its own secrets and challenges. Two separate stories: William’s work with his battalion, James’s recovery. James, although injured, is comfortable in his own skin. William is trying to conform to his father’s expectations. We learn about a childhood friendship that was ripped apart, about the differing expectations of parents.

‘The boy who had become a man who had become a soldier who had saved him.’

James and William fall in love (or perhaps they were always in love, but William hadn’t fully realised it). But James cannot remain hidden for ever: his presence in the home of Yetta and Ernst Hillen and their daughter Anna is dangerous for them as well as for him. Courage takes many forms. Yetta says, to James:

‘…there are three types of courage. There is the courage to stay the course. There is the courage to admit this is not for me. And then there is the courage to love. The wise person knows which type of courage they need, and when and why.’

This is a novel about bravery, courage and love. It is also a novel about how we define masculinity, and strength.

I was torn, reading this novel, between reading quickly to find out how it would end, and reading slowly to reflect. Imagine the challenges faced by two men in love at a time when such love was either ignored or punished. Imagine the challenges faced by all in situations of war. Men, according to William’s father, should behave in certain ways. And sons can be sacrificed in war. James’s mother wants her son to be true to himself. Both men will make sacrifices: one in order to conform, the other in order to stay safe. But neither can be complete in the separate worlds they occupy.

And so, we move towards the ending. By this stage I cared very much about James and William. I also cared about the Hillens. I finished the novel. Life is complex, love and refuge are important.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

[Wes · Rating 4 out of 5]

More reviews on insta - @books.coffee.plants

Bodies of Men is more than a war story and more than a love story. Dipping across genres, Featherstone creates an entertaining, emotional and eternally hopeful novel.

This book has it all! Well crafted characters, highly visual settings that are both familiar and foreign, and a plot that drives hard, as well as soaking in its own stillness.

After loving his 2022 offering (and forcing it upon several loved ones), I really wanted to visit another of Featherstone’s worlds… I am so glad that it held the gentlemanly wit, cheeky charm and quiet warmth that I have come to understand is a reflection of the author himself.

[Julie Keys · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tender, poetic, provocative and beautifully written. I loved this book.

[Edward · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel has been long listed for the ARA Historical Novel Literary Prize. It was engaging about Australian soldiers in Egypt at the start of World War II. It was also a love story between two soldiers.The novel really held my attention and it is very worthy of being long listed for the new literary prize in Australia.

[Tanya Nellestein · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. The author’s voice is so unique and I was drawn in on the very first page by the way he tells a story. He captures the terror of combat and the absolute boredom of war seamlessly, exploring the reality of a soldiers life brilliantly. I could picture the men and their fears and insecurities, as well as the walls they put up to protect themselves. The confronting reality of death on the battlefield - both enemy and ally - was really well portrayed. There are so many layers in this book, stories that intertwine and create a foundation that creates amazing depth. And the love story is beautiful. Highly recommend 💗

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book club choice for July.
Loved the writing style, and was glad it was not a book about war per se (a couple of small skirmishes outlined). Some of it seemed unlikely (having sec shortly after being anally raped with a weapon?!?). It also seemed to follow a heavily romanticised connection between the boys, despite lack of contact for some time before the war (this is what drops the stars for me, though others may not have the same opinion).
The ending was unfortunate but probably reflective of the time period in which it was written.

[Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well crafted writing. The story is tender, the locations sublime and again the writing. I knew when I finished that I had read a most absorbing novel.

[Ria · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was pleasantly surprised by how this book had such depth, evoking a storm of emotions...it tells several stories which interconnect and swell your heart with hope....

[Kevin Rainford · Rating 5 out of 5]

The tale of William & James is one that I devoured as the connection between these two boys and then men is one that constantly surprised me. Highly recommended and the ending is perfect.

[Cassie · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 / 5
With a summary of chance reunions and ominous dealings, "Bodies of Men" sells itself short. Now, yes, there are some elements of stories set in this period that will feel familiar. This is not just a story of bonding in battle and trauma. It is also a honest look at power structures, nationalism, masculinity, family, nature, self discovery that extends beyond sexuality, honor, and loyalty. At times it is serene. At time, brutal. And never quite the same old highlights of other war narratives. All leading to a resolution that befittingly goes that well crafted build up.

William is a younger than several in his command. With the resources afforded to him, he's able to take officer training. His accomplishment and assignment brings pride to his own politically ambitious veteran father. It also cages William with constant questions as to how well he's living up to his father's narrow vision-- a philosophy and way of being that has become his habitual thinking. One where even William's desire to go into medicine isn't quite appropriate for a man.

Yet in that he honestly wants to be a good leader. He does his best to make his unit both effective and happy. All the while feeling like a failure when the fuzziness of battle makes him question what he did and did not do in an opening conflict. This is further complicated by an obscure posting, the rumor mill, and then of all things another encounter with an old friend. A friend who, if he were truly dutiful, he should report for desertion.

James is a truly beautiful, gentle, soul. Loosing his pacifist father to suicide when he was young, he is incredibly close with his mother. A woman who now runs the family store on her own and is the most supportive, caring, woman. James' whimsical ways are endearing to her. She is constantly encouraging him even when others would have him conform to a standard he never was.

Far away from home and injured, he finds that same warmth in the family that helps him heal and shelters him. They remind him that compassion, love, and kindness to all still exist in the world. They also open his eyes to both life as a refugee and the beauty and simple pleasures of Alexandria. It is with James the reader is introduced to so much of the culture, environment, and tensions that exist not only between soldiers but people that have flocked there.

Much of the book also utilizes the backstory of William and James' friendship. It is here we see how they are torn apart. We also see much of their contentment. How others interact with them as individuals and how they view their friendship have influenced their evolving sense of self is vital to see the different ways they now struggle with concepts of duty, honor, and what is morally right and wrong.

The ways in which William considers his sexuality was unlike most I have seen and allows for a bisexual reading that I don't think should be ignored. Too often characters who may legitimately been bi are depicted in historical times to either just 'pick' or settle on the social conforming path. Personally I never read nor do I think a direct orientation should be named, even if the actions and presence of William's father lends the reader to be inclined that William would rule his life by his father's vision. There is an element to bi erasure that is lacking recognition of those who may have a stronger preference but still identify under the label. Too often this is seen as them just being in denial. Personally I saw it as a subtle way to address the concept of sexual vs. romantic attraction and the thin lines of friendship.

As to not spoil, the only thing I can say what will make this book special to me, is the ending. In a world with so much tragedy is depicted for the lgbtq community, this book left me feeling content. Bittersweet pangs in ways I hadn't accounted for filled me. Not only for character's fates. This book demonstrated time and time again that even in war, even as a soldier, you can prioritize compassion. If you take the time you can look beyond the things you've been told to believe and start seeing the world in a whole new light. And, that there are bonds that may be only brief, that will forever mold you.

[Scott Whitmont · Rating 5 out of 5]

William Marsh and James Kelly have been the unlikeliest of friends since their disparate 1930s Sydney childhoods. Separated for many years, they serendipitously re-meet in a skirmish with Italian soldiers in the Egyptian desert just outside Alexandria in 1941. Whether reunited by fate or coincidence, the two young men gradually come to realise that their relationship is destined to be the most important one either will experience.
The growing commitment and love the two feel towards each other is tempered by the both the military and societal strictures of the time which did not acknowledge or understand non-familial male to male devotion. They barely understood it themselves. Yet while William oversees a band of soldiers guarding a desert storage depot and James slowly recovers in Alexandria from a serious accident, the connection between the two grows and they – and the reader - contemplate what possible future they may have at home beyond the War.
Reminiscent of John Boyne’s The Absolutist, written with immense lyricism and sensitivity, Featherstone’s examination of forbidden wartime love and the hopes and dreams of maturing yet vulnerable young men is a triumphant work both haunting and evocative.

[Michelle Barraclough · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel, by southern highlander Nigel Featherstone, is a tender, beautifully written portrayal of the relationship between two men during the second world war. Set in Alexandria and the Egyptian desert, this novel has everything I love in a story – a current plot that kept me turning the pages, gorgeous prose that is at once simple but evocative, and flashbacks seamlessly woven into the narrative that gave me a wonderful sense of how each man’s character had evolved and how past tensions impacted them in the present. At first I thought the novel might be full of battles and other war-mongering business but the war is really just a backdrop to what is a gripping and moving portrayal of relationships between friends, lovers, spouses and parents and their children. Nigel has also given us three interesting women to whom I could relate, each with their own strengths and fallibilities. A really fabulous Australian novel – highly recommend.

[Marian Matta · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like Bodies Of Men more than I did. It's a beautiful, delicately told story about the fractured love and friendship between James and William from boyhood, through the traumas of war, and on to the separation of peace. The characters were wonderful, the story was captivating, drifting back and forth through time, and the conclusion was sadly satisfying, and yet it didn't quite click for me.

In places I found it underwritten, and in other places it seemed overwritten, as if Featherstone didn't quite trust his readers to understand. Perhaps I was hoping for something more all-encompassing, like 'Days Without End', by Sebastian Barry. Certainly, both those books engendered a sense of rising panic as the endings drew closer, but I carried 'Days Without End' in my heart. 'Bodies Of Men', not so much.

Still and all, it's a worthwhile read.

[Kylie Hough · Rating 4 out of 5]

This week, I’ve had the pleasure of reading Nigel Featherstone’s historical fiction, the Queensland Literary Awards finalist, Bodies of Men. Set for the most part in and around World War II, between Australia and Egypt, BOM tells a story of friendship, secrets, truths, relationships and ultimately, the kind of love and connection we are either seeking or grateful to experience with those we care about. Two aspects of the novel struck me as especially well done. The beautifully and realistically drawn characterisation and the cleverly formulated narrative structure. Shifting between setting and point of view, past and present, truths and omissions, BOM is not only filled with gorgeous prose and credible characters, but it’s delivered in a way that kept me intrigued and eager to turn each page. A great read!

[Dewi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely love story initially set in Australia during the childhood of the main characters. Meeting up
during the Second World War in the Egypt when both were members of the Australian Army. Their relationship is rekindled and ends up in Alexandria where they meet up clandestinely at the home of German/Jewish refugees who are keeping a low profile from the British Authorities. James was also
absent without leave and had sustained injuries in a motor cycle accident which he had taken without permission and was also having to avoid the Australian Military Police. Meanwhile William had been posted to be in charge of an isolated military camp in the desert with the task of training soldiers which had its own challenges. The book recreates the atmosphere at the time of in both the war and homophobia. I enjoyed this book and would recommend

[Susan Francis · Rating 5 out of 5]

A reflection on love. Evocative images of night swimming in the Mediterranean Sea. Sunlight in the city of Alexandria during the Second World War.
Other reviewers have noted Nigel Featherstone's sparse but lyrical prose and I too love the book because of this. But also, I love the humanity and spirit of generosity demonstrated by the central characters. I love the relationship between James and his mother. I love the integrity and strength of the message Featherstone establishes.
Under the words there runs a gentle river, full with sadness and it carries the book through. I think a sense of our humanity, our possibilities is conveyed. There is something golden about the words. I highly recommend it. I can't really find the phrases to express how simply beautiful it is.

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful, tender novel. This is the story of the relationship between William and James, who meet as young boys, but both are from very different backgrounds. Set partly in Cairo during WW1, this is not really a war novel, but explores the friendships and generosity of families and the hurt that they can create. This novel celebrates the love shared between mother and son, between two gentle men and between husbands and wives. Despite the horrors of war and the savagery of prejudice, this is a novel of love and optimism and well worth a read.