Back to Bangka. A story about family, grief and truth.
Bangka Strait, Indonesia, 1942. Allied ships are evacuating thousands in flight from Singapore, the island having fallen to Japanese Imperial forces. Facing terrifying assaults by fighter planes, one ship, the Vyner Brooke, is badly bombed and sinks. Its survivors swim or paddle for hours to the nearest land, a beach on Bangka Island, parched, many dreadfully injured. One of the survivors is Australian Army nurse Dorothy ‘Bud’ Elmes, the great-aunt of Georgina Banks. Bud makes it to the island, where she, colleagues and a matron tend to the wounded as a plan is formulated. But it is soon discovered the place is occupied by Japanese forces, and two days later they arrive on the beach.
Seventy-five years on, Georgina receives an invitation to a memorial service for her great-aunt. She knows little of the national history buried in her family but as she retraces Bud’s steps in Indonesia, and then deep in archives back in Australia, she is left making sense of half-truths and confronting the likelihood that she may never know exactly what unfolded on the beach on that devastating day.
Back to Bangka is a deeply moving intergenerational family story; a gripping retelling and investigation of events that throw a spotlight on women in wartime – in their vulnerability and profound strength.
Available for order now
Back to Bangka is available as paperback, ebook, or an audiobook, as well as at your local bookstore.
Reviews
“This is a well-written and very moving story. One which has been forgotten. It’s about a group of very courageous women and the story of the perseverance of the author to find the truth.”
– Reviewed by Anthony Llewellyn-Evans
“And my thoughts and feelings? I loved it. I was struck with respect for a woman I never knew. And filled with admiration for the scholarship demonstrated by the author and her determination to draw back the curtain on this incident.”
– Reviewed by Susan Francis
“Banks has crafted the narrative so cleverly that we're kept wondering how it really ends… the drama and suspense are there until the final page, through characters created with empathy and insight.”
– Reviewed by Miriam Zolin