Popeye Never Told You : Childhood Memories Of The War

In this memoir of his childhood in England during the Second World War, author Rodney Hall uses a little boy's point of view to tell the story of a time that changed the world. A time that not only changed the world, but one that would put into train events that were to shape Rodney's life.

Rodney's father died when he was six months old, before the War began. His mother, finding herself out of work and responsible for three children, takes a job as a clerk in the Ministry of Food. At night she tells stories of 'home', the farm her family once owned at Kangaroo Valley in Australia. For Rodney this fabled place became his hope of escape from the bombing. The imagined Australia of 'home', plus the absence of a father in his life, underlie a charmed world in which three children are free to roam the streets and the surrounding woods while the war rages across Europe.

This is a rare and touching memoir. The voice of the young Rodney, the innocence with which he surveys the world and his impressions of what is going on around him, the wonderful character of his mother, her bravery and stoicism, and the many charming and lovely stories - all these combine to make this an extraordinary book that readers will fall in love with.

Author Biography

Rodney Hall was born at Solihull, Warwickshire, in England. He came to Australia as a child and, as a result of the enchantment of embarking on that six-week voyage by sea, he suffers from a lifelong addiction to travel. After leaving school in Brisbane at 16 he worked professionally as a musician and for a while as an actor, but since 1961 he has lived by his writing, being the author of over thirty books and countless articles. He has won the Miles Franklin Award twice and many of his novels and poems have been published internationally. He lives in Melbourne.