The Ghost at the Wedding
  • Published: 3 May 2010
  • ISBN: 9780143203292
  • Imprint: Penguin
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 264
  • RRP: $27.99

The Ghost at the Wedding

A True Story

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The award-winning, highly acclaimed true story of the impact of two world wars on one family.

'Exquisitely written ... A portrait of true Aussie grit and survival not to be missed.' Australian Women's Weekly
Three generations
two world wars
one family

The young men who worked in the canefields of northern New South Wales in 1914 couldn't wait to set off for the adventure of war. The women coped as best they could, raised the children, lived in fear of an official telegram. They grieved for those killed, and learnt of worse things than death in combat. They bore more sons to replace those lost, and these were just the right age to go off to the Second World War.

The Ghost at the Wedding chronicles events from both sides of war: the horror of the battlefields and the women left at home. Shirley Walker's depictions of those battles – Gallipoli, the Western Front, the Kokoda Track – are grittily accurate, their reverberations haunting. Written with the emotional power of a novel, here is a true story whose sorrow is redeemed by astonishing beauty and strength of spirit.

'Powerful ... A succession of lightning strikes.' Roger McDonald, Australian Literary Review

'A poignant family war memoir, a tragic love story and a rare literary accomplishment ... A book I must read again.' Warren Brewer, Hobart Mercury
  • Published: 3 May 2010
  • ISBN: 9780143203292
  • Imprint: Penguin
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 264
  • RRP: $27.99
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About the author

Shirley Walker

After a long career as a lecturer in Australian literature at the University of New England, Shirley Walker is now an Honorary Fellow at the institution. She is a past President of the Association for the Study of Australian Literature, the Founding Director of the Centre for Australian Language and Literature Studies at UNE, and the author of four books and numerous critical articles. She now lives on the far north coast of New South Wales, between the escarpment and the sea.

Also by Shirley Walker

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Praise for The Ghost at the Wedding

Poignant, deeply human ... creative social history at its most readable and most moving.

Judith Armstrong, The Age

The Australian voice we have been waiting for to tell our story. She has gathered and assimilated a mountain of data and then, like a bard at the feast, joined facts and fabrications and made them sing.

Annabel Frost, Australian Coast to Coast Country Style

Heartfelt and haunting.

Terry Smyth, Sun Herald

Walker recreates another era beautifully ... a novelistic saga that has the added piquancy of truth.

Sunday Mail Brisbane

A gripping testament to the human spirit.

Carmel Bird, Bendigo Advertiser

Moving and eloquently written ... It reminded me of Alice Munro's quasi-fictional work The View from Castle Rock.

Brenda Niall, Australian Book Review

Don't pass this one by, it is the best, and the most moving [memoir], I have read for many years.

Nina Valentine, Ballarat Courier

A wonderful read, quite different to the usual war memoirs.

Pamela Southern, Pittwater Life

In describing the extraordinary horrors along with the tenderness of life, this story is almost painful as well as compelling. In language that is always beautiful, it captures a lost lifestyle and makes it alive.

Debra Adelaide

A deeply moving and humane account of the devastation of wars on several generations of an Australian family. Fine and important history, this enthralling book is written with all the drama and insight of a novel.

Alex Miller, The Age

A family memoir to beat most ... Evocative and lively ... A tale of love and loss on a grand scale ... Engrossing ... This biography will become a classic of the era.

Steve Kendall, Bendigo Weekly

Convinces utterly, immerses the reader in the experience ... Evocative, heartfelt.

Lucy Sussex, Sunday Age

Awards & recognition

Asher Literary Award

Winner  •  2009  •  Asher Literary Award