AustLit

'Sarah Butterworth grows up in Northern England amid the harrowing conditions of the Great Depression and World War II. Though surrounded by the bleak backdrop of Manchester's slums, Sarah's innate optimism, her vibrant Lancashire family and her attraction to David, the enigmatic boy next door, make life bearable for Sarah. But when tragedy strikes and David is sent away to an orphanage, Sarah's world is changed forever.

'In the years which follow, the world goes to war, and Sarah finds her pacifist convictions only deepening. But in a world now filled with soldiers, she wonders if the cost of holding those convictions will be her chance to ever find true love.

'Filled with colourful characters who face adversity with courage and humour, Sarah's Journey is an inspiring historical novel that looks at WWII through the unusual lens of a pacifist. And, while it begins in the rainy, industrial north of England, it ends in the sun-drenched Australian outback, where Sarah hopes to begin a new life and find true fulfillment at last.' (Publication summary)