The Oceans Between Us: A gripping and heartwrenching novel of a mother's search for her lost child during WW2

Here is an excerpt of what this story is about “It’s estimated that 150,000 children were sent to Australia in total, around 10,000 since 1947. Far from experiencing the wonderful life they were promised, they were sent to live in harsh conditions, were poorly educated, submitted to abuse.”This story is told through the voice of Jack, one of the children sen away from Britain as a young child at the age of 5. And his mother, Molly, who lost him. They do not meet until she is close to dying, after Jack, as an attorney, locates her. It turns out she had been writing him letters for years from Britain after she located him in Australia. But his “father”, John, who adopted him, had hidden the letters from him. When he died, his mother, Kathleen found them and shared them with Jack.There are delightful stories embedded in this tale, baes on true circumstances, that make it enjoyable to read and putting all the trauma into perspective. I highly recommend this book.

It breaks my heart to hear how children have been treated in the past. Almost like livestock! For England to ship orphans (well they assumed they were orphans) to another country is cruel. The children were promised paradise and then dumped in terrible conditions. This story has the details but it’s also a story of hope and perseverance.

The Oceans between us is a sad story. As with so many historical stories, I once again learned about a segment of history that I had never heard about.There were actually two stories. The story of the children taken from orphanages in England, some without parental consent, and sent to Australia. They were promised a better life. They were actually sent to places where they were working in horrible conditions with little food, no education, and harsh caretakers. Some were beaten, some were sexually abused, and some died.This book tells the story of Jack, a young boy separated from his mother during a bombing raid in England during the war. He was sent to an orphanage because his mother could not be found and subsequently sent to Australia as an orphan. His mother Molly was injured and taken to the hospital but did not know her name and could not remember her past. It took many years before she remembered. The book tells the story of both their lives after the war and how they finally found each other.The second story is about the Aboriginal children that were taken by the government and put into service as maids and such by the Australian government. It is the story of Rosie, a maid in Jack's adopted families house , in Australia and how her and Jack above all odds against them, against his adopted parents wishes, fell in love and were married.Both stories are sad and should never have happened. This is a book of fiction, but the immigration of some 10,000 children from England to Australia after the war actually happened, as did the forced servitude of the aboriginal children.The book was very interesting as I was learning something new. The characters were believable. I would recommend this book.Thanks to Gill Thompson, Headline Publishing, and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review an advance copy of the book.

All the emotions are felt throughout this story. Love is the thread but heartbreak is throughout. You want so much to reach the ending so you can’t stop reading. As you turn each corner you anticipate the next. I definitely recommend this book.

The Oceans Between Us is a novel based on true events. Shortly afterWWII, thousands of young children were transported from England to Australia, to serve in a slave like capacity. Some of them were orphans & some were literally stolen from their parents. Once in Australia the life of sunshine & oranges they were promised, quickly gave way to a punishing brutal system of hard labor & starvation. Australia was looking for cheap white labor. The. Catholic Church was a major player. Intertwined into the narrative is the tragedy of Aboriginal children being taken from their families to serve as domestics for the white hierarchy. Australia was hoping the Aboriginals would die out. It took until 2009 & 2010 for England & Australia to apologize for these sickening policies. This was an important story to tell & to learn about. And, it was extremely well written.

A sad but gripping story of events I never knew could happen. And did happen. Children treated so badly. So sad and unbelievable that it was allowed to happen. This story itself may not have been true but based on true. Sometimes I couldn't believe the inhumanity that was told.

Ultimately I ended up enjoying this story but the author took too much time getting there. I am normally a quick read but this one took me about a month. I ended up using it as a sleep aide picking it up off and on. I could never get fully invested until Jack was in Bindoon. The story line is enlightening and sad. I'm glad I was educated in this but of history, but it was told to plainly and without character sympathy would should have been high given the situation for both Jack and Molly.

This is an incredible book and the story is a perfect blend of fact and fiction. The author shows us real emotions felt by those in a war from the child's perspective and an adult perspective. As an adoptive mom I really appreciated the emotions felt by both of Jack's moms. This is a book that was tough to put down. It is a beautiful blend of history and a moving story of a little boy who's life is torn apart by bombs and adults who turn their backs on our most vulnerable, our children.

Very sad but wonderful book. Well written. Really enjoyed reading it.

Lo que hace una madre,....insistió hasta el final. La pena es que el tiempo corría muy rápido y pasaron muchos años,....

Whilst being aware of the child migrants to Australia after the war, this novel gave me a much deeper insight in to their suffering. All the characters are so well drawn that I felt I knew them personally by the end. Also woven in to the story are the attitudes to mixed raced marriages in both England and Australia and I can only be glad that this ingrained prejudice has at least greatly lessened if not entirely disappeared. I was genuinely very sorry to reach he end of the book.

Readers may be familiar with the film ‘Oranges and Sunshine’ starring Emily Watson which chronicled the plight of UK orphans & many children temporarily placed in care by their parents, who were shipped out to Australia in 1950s with the promise of a better life only to be used as child labour. Gill Thompson’s compelling novel tells the story of one such boy, Jack, but what is fascinating about this book is the parallel story of the plight of Jack’s mother who has amnesia following a bombing raid during the war. The invisible bond of mother & child is explored as despite being told over many years that his Mother is dead, Jack never truly believes it and his trust of adults remains a challenge throughout his life. The characters in both arcs of the story in England & Australia are very well developed & you become emotionally invested in many of them, not just Jack & his mother. I am not ashamed to say this book brought me to tears. If I had one gripe it would be the choice of the front cover. It does little to honestly illustrate the story & somewhat trivialises it, which may reduce the number of readers. If you are in any doubt, ignore the cover & read it!

This story is heartbreaking. As a Child in a country town in WA our family took a little boy from Castledare Home, part of this system, for the 1950’s school holiday break. At the request of our Parish and the Archbishop. He was about 10 years old. I remember his sad little brown eyes and his shy quietness. My mother was enraged to see his poor clothing, and went out and bought, sandals shorts and a new shirt for him. He had with him, a very official School blazer,and a few ragged bits.His name was Peter, and may have been Scottish or Maltese, with a soft accent.We were a family of four children, and hope it was a happy time for him. We did not ever take another child. Though it’s long ago, I often think of him and wonder if he had a good future life. My sister and I have discussed this often in our childhood recollections. This book brings back my fears for a frightened little boy. Peter if you are still around, I hope you found family love.