White Butterflies, Colin McPhedran, NewSouth, $29.99

In retirement, Colin McPhedran stepped out of his “ordinary life” to pen an extraordinary tale of his childhood. From his home in country NSW, he pieced together the recollections of 11-year-old Colin fleeing the Japanese invasion of Burma in WWII. McPhedran’s gripping and heartbreaking story of the journey with his mother and siblings was first published in 2002. This new edition updates readers of the original bestseller who clamoured to know more about McPhedran’s later life, before he died in 2010. “An ordinary Australian life was the greatest gift that I could possibly have been given,” he said in a speech in 2003. This remarkable story is simply and honestly told, with newly added and poignant fore and after words from family members.