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The Daughters of Mars
- Narrated by: Jane Nolan
- Length: 18 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Genre Fiction
Summary
Naomi and Sally Durance are daughters of a dairy farmer from the Macleay Valley. Bound together in complicity by what they consider a crime, when the Great War begins in 1914 they hope to submerge their guilt by leaving for Europe to nurse the tides of young wounded. They head for the Dardanelles on the hospital ship Archimedes. Their education in medicine, valour, and human degradation continues on the Greek island of Lemnos, then on the Western Front.
Here, new outrages - gas, shell-shock - present themselves. Naomi encounters the wonderful, eccentric Lady Tarlton, who is founding a voluntary hospital near Boulogne; Sally serves in a casualty clearing station close to the front. They meet the men with whom they would wish to spend the rest of their lives.
Inspired by the journals of Australian nurses who gave their all to the Great War effort and the men they nursed, The Daughters of Mars is vast in scope yet extraordinarily intimate. A stunning tour de force to join the best First World War literature, and one that casts a penetrating light on the lives of obscure but strong women caught in the great mill of history.
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What listeners say about The Daughters of Mars
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Buder
- 20-08-15
Not for me
This just wasn't the one for me. I liked the sound of Tom's description of the novel and I did listen to the whole 18+hrs, there was nothing wrong with the story or the narration, it just didn't grip me as wartime stories usually do, sorry Tom.
2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Pochoir
- 12-03-13
Unforgettable
I frequently listen to audiobooks when unable to sleep, but this book was haunting in such a way that I found myself trying to keep awake (!) and concentrate, as the characters are so worthy and have attitudes and manners which are so honourable and are very different from those of today. The horror of WW1 emphasised. Reader was perfect choice and much admired too, thank you
2 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Tamas Lorincz
- 21-02-16
Liked - not loved
I was glad to have read perhaps not happy to have finished. Difficult topic dealt with reasonably well. Didn't much care for the characters.
Good - if somewhat stale - reading didn't really help me get into the story.
Good image of WWI fronts and the brutality, stupidity, awkwardness of it all as well as the amazing changes it brought about.
1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- KMV
- 22-06-17
Compelling, evocative ...
... and a reminder of such unnecessary loss. I learnt a great deal about the bravery of nurses and the young men from Australia during WWII. The detail is astonishing, and so vivid thanks to an incredibly professional narration.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 05-06-17
a wordy but beautiful wartime epic
perseverance is essential but the ending beautiful. A brilliant story told over some pages, with at times challenging vernacular, but appropriate to the context.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- tfdodo
- 21-10-16
bleak, engaging, informative and a good read
If you could sum up The Daughters of Mars in three words, what would they be?
bleak, engaging, informative
What other book might you compare The Daughters of Mars to, and why?
the forever war
Which scene did you most enjoy?
when the aid station is bombed
Any additional comments?
A very appropriate read around the 100th anniversary of key WW1 dates.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Suzy
- 28-08-16
Historical Novel Lacking in Sparkle
I enjoyed hearing about the lives of the Australian nurses in the First World War. I found it interesting to see the development of treatments at the clearing stations to help soldiers better recover. I liked the attempt at realism in the way the nurses were initially treated, and only later gained respect. Although this is fiction - told through the lives of two sisters - I felt it was based on historical facts, without being gruesome or gratuitous. The drawback however, is I found little to distinguish the two main characters apart, and often didn't know which sister's story I was following until she was named. The narrator didn't help as she read the story with a monotone throughout. Her narration was clear and well pronounced, but it made this long book (18 hours) feel even longer. For me it lacked any sparkle to make me care about the lives of all the characters, but it's worth listening for the historical details
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Sarah Gamp
- 09-03-13
Interesting WWI novel with an Australian bent
This is a good novel but not a super-terrific great one for listening. This limitation is not due to problems with the reader, in my view. Instead, I think that some literary novels are better read than heard. Their attractions are subtle-- fine tuning of character development, etc--and are not best appreciated through the ear alone. I am not generalizing about all literary novels (Jennifer Egan's _A Visit From the Goon Squad_ for instance, is a riveting listen), but I think _The Daughters of Mars_ can seem a bit slow. At times I was fully engaged, and at other times my attention wavered. It was not a audiobook that I looked forward to switching on every chance I could.
3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Paddington
- 05-10-13
terrific story
This was a much more readable Thomas Keneally novel than his first ones. It was a terrific story based on Australian nurses and army involvement in World War 1 who supported British forces. I found it compelling but I would have preferred a definite ending, not a choice of two. Highly recommended.
2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Suzanne Beacroft
- 06-04-20
Brilliant
Riveting story beautifully read. Action scenes of the war were very real and the emotions portrayed we're heartfelt.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Zhukov
- 22-09-19
Best nursing story ever
accurate and powerful. read with skill and shines light on the midcoast region of nsw and the people who make it amazing
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Elizabeth Anderson
- 10-03-16
Brilliant
An exceptional epic take.
The famine perspective was powerfully informative & gave a balance to an often thought male-dominated war.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Leonard
- 18-09-14
Surprisingly Good
Since this is the centenary anniversary, there is no shortage of books about the First World War. At first I had concerns about the book, the reviews were great, but it was just a very long book. However, I had a hard time turning off my Ipod. The character development was priceless, the story line kept my attention throughout and the narration was faultless. The ending was sad but considering the subject (participants in WWI) not unexpected - it was a very sad war.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Beth Anne
- 01-06-14
droned on and on. and i didn't much care.
neither sister was all that worthy of a 19 hour novel. a little too long, a little too detailed. there was a lot going on in this story, and nothing going on in this story.
while it was obviously extremely well researched and quite informative about the war...i found it awfully tedious to read.