The Bakehouse

The Bakehouse is a war story with a difference. Set in war-time New Zealand, it offers a perspective on the Home Front in a country other than Britain through the eyes of 11-year-old Bert. He can’t wait to grow up and fight in the war – to use weapons, to defend his country and to live a life of adventure. The problem is that 70 years on, 1943 is history soup in the fading memory of an elderly Bert who is no longer able to separate what he did during the war from what he was told or what he read.

On the day of his sister’s funeral, Bert’s great-grandson calls to pay his respects and to ask him about the Bakehouse. For a brief period, within which the narrative resides as a flashback, Bert’s memory suddenly becomes crystal clear – of his parents and his two sisters, of his aunt whose husband is fighting in the war, of her peroxide hussy friend Jean who puzzlingly gets ‘in the family way’ even though she isn’t married, and of the catalyst of the story, the ailing deserter whom they find hiding in the abandoned Bakehouse.

It’s a story told through the eyes of a boy trying to make sense of social mores, of sexual attraction and the motivation for a range of adult behaviours. As the plot becomes increasingly complex, the reader is faced with various moral dilemmas – should Bert and Betty report the deserter or take care of him? Should they swear six-year-old Meg to secrecy? Is it okay to tell lies, even to the military police? And in the shocking and powerful denouement, was Bert right to do what he did, especially as he was acting out of anger and frustration?

The characters in this gripping novel are complex and carefully layered as the ups and downs of normal family life are played out against the backdrop of the war. In the end, the decision Bert makes determines the outcome of Betty’s whole life. As the mists close in again on his fading memory, Bert bids a final farewell to his sister and prepares to take the seventy-year-old secret to his grave.

I would highly recommend this book to any readers who appreciate vivid characters and an intriguing plot, who are interested in war stories with a difference, or who like to grapple with moral complexities. The questions will remain with you long after the final page has been turned.