Journeys of love and sacrifice

Two narrators make for a split personality to this tale of two generations of the same family and their coming of age. One is a 1946 war bride moving from Australia to the United States, a woman of strength, sacrifice and immense stubborn pride. The other is a young woman who allows her self-doubt and fears to cloud her judgment.

Sarah, the grandmother, is the more well-drawn character, the true heroine of Limprecht’s novel; Hannah, the grand-daughter, seems shallow by comparison. We hear about Sarah’s life as she goes on a journey home for the first time in decades. The title, The Passengers ,isa reference to the cruise back to Australia but also to the rather rougher voyage through life.

Hannah, about the same age as her grandmother when she left home to go and live with the US serviceman she married, accompanies her on the trip. Through this journey, the younger woman realises her grandmother has a past and, in that past, Hannah starts to find her own answers to a more sure and hopeful future.

Limprecht’s message is about families, love and the past, about keeping secrets and following your heart. In the end — after many years and many twists and turns when both women make wrong decisions, usually with good intentions — the message is about forgiveness and hope.

THE PASSENGERS

by Eleanor Limprecht (Allen and Unwin, $33) Reviewed by

Kay Forrester