Barbed Wire and Roses

The First World War, everyone said in 1914, would be over by Christmas, and Stephen Conway rushes to enlist. Leaving behind a new wife and a baby on the way, he soon finds himself in the trenches of Gallipoli. Four horrific years later, Stephen is the only survivor of his platoon. Shell-shocked and disillusioned, and during the heat of battle on the blood-stained fields of France, he mysteriously disappears.

More than eighty years later, Stephen's grandson Patrick finds a diary that leads him to Britain and France on a journey to discover what really happened. It is a journey during which he unexpectedly finds love, and the truth about his grandfather's fate that is even stranger and more shocking than he imagined.

Based on true events, this is an unforgettable novel of courage and survival from a master storyteller.

About the Author

Peter Yeldham's extensive writing career began with short stories, radio scripts and a column for a weekly magazine. He spent twenty years in England, becoming a leading screenwriter for films and television, and also wrote plays for the theatre, including the highly successful comedies Birds on the Wing and Fringe Benefits. Since returning to Australia he has won numerous awards for his miniseries, among them 1915, Captain James Cook, The Alien Years, All the Rivers Run, The Timeless Land and The Heroes. His adaptation of Bryce Courtenay's novel Jessica won a Logie Award for best mini-series. He is the author of ten novels, including Barbed Wire and Roses, The Murrumbidgee Kid, The Currency Lads, Against the Tide, Land of Dreams and A Distant Shore.