White Gardenia by Belinda Alexandra

Being on holidays certainly gives me the opportunity to sit uninterrupted and read to my hearts content.  Glad I chose this novel for my first holiday read and the first book for the Australian Women Writers Challenge 2014.  I found it to be one of those terrific stories that demand your attention, although it is quite long I knocked it off in a couple of days.  This is quite unusual for me but being in holiday mode where a chair in the sun by the river enticed me to stay put made it quite achievable.  I had not read any of Alexandra's books before, not sure why, but will definitely pick a few more.  I think what I got most out of the novel was what I learnt about the the atrocities of war, whether it be WW2 or the Cold War, it certainly brings the horror and the absolute stupidity of mankind and what we have done to our fellow human beings.  Also the impact of the many people that were displaced due to the war and were bought to Australia under the 'populate or perish' mandate; people worked hard to make Australia what it is today and we should be grateful for the many that made it their home and built up businesses and brought up their families here.  We have been enriched by their contribution and their influences in customs, traditions and food make us a wonderfully diverse and safe nation.  I will be thinking of the characters Anya, Dmitri, Ivan and the General in the days to come.