WWI: Ethel Turner and Mary Grant Bruce

From Billabong to London
Jim & Wally
Captain Jim

( Mary Grant Bruce )

The Cub
Captain Cub
Brigid and the Cub
( Ethel Turner )

The Bruce books are all on Project Gutenberg but although quite a few Turners are there, none of the Cub books are. I'd picked up two over the years but only managed to track down the third about three days before my actual talk. Turner, to me, has a more interesting take on the war - the Cub initially doesn't want to join, and although he fights well he also ends up having a breakdown, something Bruce's characters would disdain (she draws a clear distinction between the Tired People who just need a boost and those who become "jumpy" under fire and fail to harden into men). I am however aware that my own personal biases in favour of cities and science and civilisation may be interfering...