Last Chapters

The last chapters to the novel are kind of slow. They just wrap up the story and say how Jean and Joe end up setting up all these businesses in town and having kids. Mr. Strachan comes to Midhurst for a visit which was cute. I still think he should have stayed and lived with Jean and her kids since he became their godfather though (He ended up going back to England).
The entire story ended up being Mr. Strachan’s memories from Jean and her life. He writes down all his memories and that’s what the story was, his writing about Jean’s life. It is sad at the end when he’s so old and weak that he can’t get up off his bed. It kind of made me want to cry, but he lived a full life, so it isn’t like he missed out on anything.
Overall I loved this novel.
It turns out this was actually a true story, but it took place in another location. The author wanted to honor his friend, who was the lady who he based Jean on. He said she was one of the strongest people he ever met. I sure would have liked to meet her!

Chapter 9

This chapter is really only about how Jean is setting up her business and how she's settling into her new life in Willstown. Jean goes to spend some time in Midhurst station with Joe sometimes and they make plans to change it up a little by the time they get married in April. Jean describes the kitchen as "primitive" which is sort of funny to me (I think she'd probably have a heart attack if she were to know what kitchens look like nowadays). Joe also teaches Jean how to ride a horse at Midhurst and she practices whenever she can. To get to Midhurst takes three hours plus three to get back to Willstown by Joe's utility. Jean however, doesn't stay overnight at Midhurst because for the time being, Jean's and Joe's engagement is a secret. It would be a scandal if people saw Jean and Joe "together" without their engagement being known, so they have to act as if they're only friends in front of everyone. Jean's business at the ice cream parlor is going extremely well and the bar owner confides in Joe that he's getting the idea that he might run out of business. Hence, Jean has to make sure she doesn't start selling beer or working past 10 at night, which is the time the bar closes. I believe that the climax of the novel was when Jean and Joe decided to get married and now the story is at the falling action and going into the resolution part of the plot of the novel. By the end of this chapter, Joe has to go out to search for one of the owners of the nearby station who went missing, and is gone for a few days. During this time, Jean really starts to know how her new life with Joe will be like. Though it will be a happy one, she believes it'll be a life full of worry and anxiety while he's away, since if something happens, there's no way for him to contact anyone. Another down side to it is that she believes she may gain weight (hahaha).

Chapters 7 & 8

Chapter 7 and 8 were great! Jean and Joe FINALLY see each other after 6 years. I found my heart breaking for a second for her when he doesn’t recognize her in the airport and walks in the other direction. But then she goes to talk to him and they start talking like the 6 years that separated them never happened. I want to skip the summary part of my blog for now, maybe I’ll go back to it when I have more time, and go straight to the part about how I feel about these chapters. I was simply delighted when Jean and Joe decide to get married the following year. It was kind of predictable but not at all boring how the entire thing worked itself out. I feel kind of bad for Mr. Strachan at the end of chapter eight though. Oh, and I was so entirely focused on the plot of the novel that I completely forgot the novel was being narrated by Mr. Strachan himself. But the reason I feel bad for him is because even though he is seventy-three years old and old enough to be Jean’s grandfather (which makes it kind of gross) he reveals to himself that maybe he did love her. After he got Jean’s letter saying that she and Joe would be getting married, he was so out of it he crossed a street and didn’t even notice and got hit by a taxi. He didn’t die or anything though. I noticed the fact that he might have been in love with Jean or liked her a little too much in the first couple chapters of the novel, so it didn’t come off as a huge surprise when he finally noticed it himself. The fact that it’s gross that a 73 year old man would have feelings for a girl that could be his granddaughter doesn’t just stop a reader who read the novel from feeling sorry for the guy. I mean, if I just saw the facts and not the story behind it, I would also think it’s disgusting and not feel sorry for him at all; so I’d understand if someone reading this doesn’t get why I feel sorry for Mr. Strachan.

Chapter 6

In chapter 6 Jeans goes to Australia, finds out that Joe went on a walkabout and is out of the country. Jean and Mr. Strachan always write to each other every week. Jean makes friends in the towns that she visits and decides to set up a business in Willstown using the knowledge she gained by working as a typist. I was really anxious while reading this chapter. I knew that Jean and Joe would meet eventually and I couldn’t wait for it happen. I find it great how Jean is such a strong woman who is very independent and is able to get by only relying on herself to get her to places. I feel as if she and I would be great friends if she was real hahaha.

Chapter 5

This chapter explains how Joe was able to survive the beating.
When Jean learns that there is a chance that Joe Harman could be alive she travels to Kuantan and speaks to a nurse that tended to Joe. The nurse reassures Jean that Joe did in fact survive. So she goes to Australia to look for him.
The story then goes back to Mr. Strachan. He is in his office in England when Joe Harman himself shows up! And he's looking for Jean! Mr. Strachan tells Joe that Jean is out of the country and that she had inherited money from a relative. He tells Joe to write Jean a letter and come back the next day with the letter and that he, Mr. Strachan, would send out to Jean himself since he can't give away Jean's information. When Joe doesn't show up, Mr. Strachan sends his assistant after him. He finds that Joe had gotten drunk and got arrested the same night they had spoken. He bails Joe out of jail and lets him stay at his house. Mr. Strachan gets Joe to tell him why he didn’t write the letter to Jean. Joe believes that he isn’t good enough for her, especially now that she is rich. He says he wouldn’t be able to give her the things she wants. Where he lives in the backcountry, he says, there isn’t anywhere for a woman to entertain herself, no shops or cinemas or anything (Quite silly if you ask me).
By the end of the chapter, Joe starts to head home to Australia when Mr. Strachan says something that foreshadows Joe’s and Jean’s meeting to come.

I really like this book, it's very interesting and the author is very good at describing the way the characters feel. At first, the novel was kind of confusing but now that I'm further into the plot I can barely put the book down. I can't wait to read the next chapter. =)

Chapter 4

In this chapter many things happen. Jean and the surviving prisoners end up staying in a village called Kuala Telang where some very nice villagers lived. Since most of the men from the village were serving in the war, Jean and the village chief, Mat Amin bin Taib, were able to convince the Japanese to let them stay there and help the women plant rice. They stayed there for 3 years, until the war ended. Jean returns to England only to find that her mother and her brother Donald had both died.
What Jean didn’t know was that she became known to many people. Her story went around the country and many, if not all of the people who served in that part of the war knew about her and respected her for what she had done to keep the rest of the women and children safe.

Mr. Strachan and Jean discussed her upcoming trip and she went a few months later. Jean builds a well for the women at Kuala Telang and they are very grateful. One day, Jean was talking to the builders when she finds out that the Australian soldier who was tortured at Kuantan lived…