Set in Sydney, Australia, at the end of WWII, mothers, girlfriends and wives are waiting for their men to return home. Tilly and Mary are waiting a bit longer than some of the others as their husbands were prisoners of war in Japanese camps. Mary’s husband has been hospitalised and has to wait until he is well enough to travel. Tilly has heard nothing about her husband other than he was captured.

Many women moved into the workforce to replace the men while they were fighting overseas. Now the men are back and the women are being told to stop working and move back into domestic duties. Tilly has been working as a reporter for the Daily Herald but is told she has been reassigned to the Women’s Pages as the men are now back to handle the real news. Tilly decides to do reports on women coping with the changing world so other women realise they are not alone. Women still have to deal with rations, but now they have to cope with husbands, fathers and sons who return with mental issues and dreadful injuries, many widowed women have income as the breadwinner never comes home and they lose their jobs because they are women. There are no counselling service - women just get on with it.

Victoria Purman always does great research and it pays off as she brings the struggle alive, and there are so many issues. The government of the day provides no financial aid for the huge numbers of widows and fatherless children. Those women who manage to remain in the workplace face sexual harassment, and as the men return to work they expect better working conditions. So women also have to deal with the rise of unionism and how strikes effect their families.

Victoria Purman books always go straight to ‘must get’ list, can’t wait for her next release

The Women's Pages takes us into the aftermath of WWII in Sydney where war correspondent Tilly Galloway finds herself relegated to a section of the newspaper that she has no interest in writing for.
Many historical novels tell us of life after the war but Purman brings us a new perspective in that she highlights the lives of the women and the massive changes they face. Wartime gave them freedoms that had never before been possible and Purman tells stories of what happens to those freedoms when the men return.

I was engaged from the first page and have actually read the book twice.

Tilly is a strong and independent young woman who learned to stand up for her beliefs at the knee of her father, now an aging dock worker and a union man.

The Women's Pages is an emotional and interesting look into the past and the struggles faced by many in the years after the war.
I book I would happily recommend and I hope to one day sit down with again, I'm sure Tilly has more to teach me.

The Women's Pages by Victoria Purman was a read with some intrigue that kept the pages turning.
Review copy received from Harlequin MIRA via Netgalley

The Women’s Pages has to be my favourite book so far for 2020. Victoria Purman’s knowledge of the locale in which the book is set, plus her usual impeccable historical research, gives us a believable while thoroughly enjoyable book. Ms Purman paints vividly the characters and locations of post WWII Sydney, keeping us turning the pages of this magnificent book.

Sydney post WWII brings challenges, both to the returning soldiers and to the women who have kept the homefires burning during their absence. With the return of the men, the women are expected to quietly return to being the housewives and mothers that they had been before the war. Ms Purman’s descriptions and characters make you wonder just what your own families had gone through in past generations, to give us what we have now. The characters of the book, Tilly, her friend Mary and husband Bert, her family – her father a lifetime worker on the wharves, her newspaper colleagues and her mentor and friend George – each of them have a life of their own, as well as merging together in an engaging story of life in Sydney post WWII, and all the challenges that were encountered on a daily basis.

I absolutely loved everything about this book. Victoria Purman has produced many wonderful books, and has become a master in Australian historical fiction, but I think this is her best yet. I look forward to what she brings to us next.

Australian author, Victoria Purman's novel The Women's Pages is a wonderful historical fiction set in Sydney during the 1940's. The story starts on VP Day and follows female war correspondent Tilly Galloway as she eagerly awaits the return of her husband Archie, a Prisoner of War, who she hasn't heard from for a few years. Tilly's position as a reporter and war correspondent is downgraded to a contributor of the Women's Pages for the newspaper company she works for, once the men return from the war and take up their previous positions. Tilly and many other women around the country are expected to return to their simple lives as wives and mothers, not working women, once the war is over. I loved this story and learnt so many things such as the fate of the SS Montevideo Maru and some of the hardships people faced during the war. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for a digital copy of this book.

The Women’s Pages is a historical fiction book, featuring a healthy dose of feminism, set just at the end of WW2. During the war, like many other women across Australia, our lead, Tilly, has found herself with more responsibility in the job arena, going from a secretary, to a more fulfilling role of a newspaper war correspondent. Afterwards, of course, the men return and she is relegated back to the ‘women’s pages’. Tilly and the reader slowly realise, however, that women have been through quite a lot during the war, albeit in a different way to the men who’d enlisted, and relating women’s stories means the ‘women’s pages’ can be far from frivolous.

Purman’s style is interesting and not completely usual. She doesn’t write chronologically, but she also doesn’t write in one time period and then present a flashback in another. Instead, she moves back and forth in time periods in such a way that she layers her plot and characters. It took me a moment to get used to but, once I did, I found her style (and thus the book) quite captivating.

Not only did Purman include the plot of women realising they wanted more satisfying careers after the war, she touched on many other subjects which Australians struggled with at the time: PTSD, poverty, food rationing, housing shortages, to name a few. There’s also some we are still struggling with today, such as the bias of newspapers towards their preferred political parties and the inequity of wage rates for women compared to men.

Purman’s writing includes lots of lovely details and her historical facts woven through Tilly’s story were often thought provoking and educational. I had no idea the government had censored so many details of the war, for example. The passages featuring the atrocities against the Australian POWs were particularly heartbreaking.

If I had to give critique towards the book, I would say it was the inclusion of Tilly’s father’s character. Adding his Union affiliation and obvious asbestos related health issues into the story was, for me, a bit too much. I would have preferred more of Tilly in the newspaper; more scenes featuring Tilly conducting interviews, for example. (Actually, to be honest, I think Purman could have easily turned this into two books at least.)

Tilly’s father’s occupation as a wharfie, however, did give Purman the excuse to add another Sydney waterside suburb into the mix. If you’re looking for a historical fiction book which shows off Sydney, this one is definitely for you.

There is also a romantic plot in the book. I thought it was a sweet subplot instead of a cloying overdone one and readers of all ages should enjoy its subtlety. In fact, if you’re looking something for yourself, your teenage daughter and your mother to read, this could be it.

This is my second Purman book, my first being The Last of the Bonegilla Girls which I also thoroughly enjoyed, so I will definitely be catching up with some of her other titles.

4 out of 5

Reading a Victoria Purman novel is like having my own time machine to take me back to life in Australia in the 1940s. This, the third of her novels to cover this time period, once again covers many important issues that people, women especially, struggled with through the war years and after them.


The Women’s Pages is a story of loss and courage, of endurance and struggles and of hope for a better future for all.

I really enjoy learning about our history, about the lives of ordinary people faced with extraordinary circumstances. Through Tilly, a woman’s war reporter at the Sydney Morning Herald, we learn first hand of the issues facing women during and after the second world war. Woman who struggled to hold their families together, who worked long hours doing tough jobs to help the war effort, who did without for years for that same reason. Women who after the war were essentially thrown away to make room for the men returning from war. Who had tasted freedom and partial equality and who then had it taken back. I learned that despite the huge steps we’ve made in this direction, where women can do the same jobs as men, earn their own wage, make their own decisions, we really haven’t come that far at all.

I also learnt a great deal about the trade unions back when they actually had much more power than most of them do these days. The struggles that Tilly’s family and other dock workers were facing and the fight for fair pay and fair hours and how the government and the newspapers made them sound like they were the bad guys. Many barely had enough money to buy food let alone keep a family. The war made this fight all the harder especially when the soldiers returned from overseas and the fight to keep their jobs and fair pay and hours became even harder.

I had no idea about the bombing of the Japanese ship and the loss of all the prisoners of war and the story behind it. This left me in shock after reading about that one situation.

I really felt for Tilly and and her friend Mary, as well as all the other women who had no idea if their men would return from the war, and if they did, would they return as whole people or would they be changed completely from what they had been through. Tilly’s situation left me feeling heartbroken for her, especially as she watched others husbands returning. I really loved Tilly’s colleague Cooper and enjoyed the friendship they had and the support and encouragement he gave Tilly throughout was very special.

This was an emotive read and Victoria Purman has done a great job of showing us the challenges of the time. If you enjoy Australian history, you will hopefully find this to be a great book to add to your reading list.

Thanks to NetGalley, Harlequin Australia for providing me with a copy in return for an honest review.

In The Women's Pages, Victoria Purman tells us the story - the history - of the lives of those as WW2 ends in Australia. In particular she paints a picture for us of the life of a woman journalist and her family and friends.

Tilly's husband is a soldier at war, she hasn't heard from him since 1942, but she forever hopes, as she writes  what she is assigned. What she is assigned is not always to her passion. Women are in many ways ridiculed by the men, who take "the important" stories and the larger pay packets home.

In many ways this is a black and white picture. Victoria Purman manages to provide for us an idea of the realities of that time. It is still a time of great struggle and injustice. Men return - if they do - often physically and psychologically wounded. With images in their minds that will scar them forever.  Women have scraped and provided for their families on very little and still there is very little let up. Everywhere there is injustice.

We especially see that injustice played out in the life of Tilly's father - a waterside worker. They worked long hard hours for little remuneration and very poor working conditions. They are asking for better and are labelled "commies".

Tilly is a gutsy woman, she has passion and fire. Even though she suffers in little and large ways she fights on. She takes the opportunities small as they are, she sees the stories of so many women of that time and is determined to make a difference.

A very realistic and eye opening depiction of this era from a woman's point of view. Well done to Victoria Purman.

This books starts on VP day in Sydney the end of the war in the pacific and the Sydney streets come alive with rejoicing, happiness and tears of joy, the men will be coming home those that survived but a lot of them will be different to what they were. Tilly Galloway is a journalist working for a Sydney newspaper and she has been covering the war but that is all about to change for Tilly.

Tilly has been put back on the women’s pages at the paper because the men are back and she really struggles with fashion and the exclusive parties she is better than that and is pushing to change this. Tilly is also waiting on news of her husband Archie a prisoner-of-war and as time goes by she is more convinced that he will not be coming home, but there is always hope. Tilly is taking in the changes and seeing the woman who stepped up to help during the war sent back to their homes and kitchens, life has changed so much for everyone.

Tilly is good friends with fellow journalist and war correspondent Georg Cooper and he is helping with the search for Archie, he also knows what a great journalist Tilly is and is there for her, encouraging her to keep going, Tilly’s father is a waterside worker and they are on strike and Tilly’s flat mate Mary is really struggling with her husband Bert who came home a totally different man after being in Changi Prison. Australia is changing everything is being turned upside down, but strength and courage will keep everyone going.

I loved this story from page one, I fell into the dancing in the street and didn’t want to put it down, I loved Tilly so much woman really had a hard time back in these days but Tilly showed strength to keep going and stand up for what she thought was right, this one is an emotional and poignant story one that I highly recommend, Victoria Purman is a fabulous author, it is beautifully written with so much love and caring, don’t miss this one.
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The Women’s Pages is another captivating novel of historical fiction from best-selling author, Victoria Purman.

Set in Sydney, Australia as World War II draws to a close, Tilly Galloway is an official Women’s War Correspondent for The Daily Herald, and though she has found it frustrating that as a woman she has been restricted to reporting from the home front, she loves her job. While the end of the war is cause for celebration, for Tilly the occasion is bittersweet when her boss insists she returns to writing for the women’s pages to make way for returning serviceman, and prepare for her own husband’s homecoming.

Seamlessly merging historical facts with fiction, Purman’s focus is on exploring the post war experiences of women in this enjoyable, moving, and interesting novel. Though the end of the war brings relief, it also creates new challenges for Australian women.

Many women suddenly find their working life abruptly altered or terminated to benefit returned serviceman, and struggle with the loss of their independence. Tilly acknowledges she is lucky to still be employed, but disappointed to be reassigned to cover gossip and social events, especially when she feels strongly that there are issues women are facing which are more urgent and meaningful to report on.

Other women expect to settle back into a life of domesticity with their demobbed husbands only to discover, as does Tilly’s best friend, Mary, that their men are virtual strangers, struggling with physical injuries or mental health issues from their wartime experiences. Few men returned unchanged from the war, and women bore the brunt of the aftermath with no, or little guidance, and Purman portrays these challenges with clear-eyed compassion.

Some women, like Tilly, and her sister, Martha, discover after years of waiting, that that their husbands may not be returning at all. Tilly is increasingly anxious as there is no word of her husband, who is a Japanese prisoner of war. Martha’s husband survived the war, but has deserted her, leaving her to raise their three sons on her own without any financial support.

These are just a few of the issues for women Purman explores in The Women’s Pages, she also touches on the government’s failure to adequately provide for war widows and their now fatherless children, the prevalence of sexual harassment in the workplace, and the divide between the experiences of working class and upper class women. Through the members of Tilly’s family, Purman also highlights the postwar Union struggle for fair wages and working conditions, particularly on the waterfront, and its effect on women, like Tilly’s mum.

Heartfelt and poignant, with appealing characters, The Women’s Pages is an excellent read which presents an engaging story that also illuminates the real history of post-war Australian women.

When I first started Victoria Purman's #TheWomensPages, I was drawn into it as she told of the end of WWII as it happened in Australia but the further into it I went, the more difficult it got to read. There was so much focus on background - 80% of a chapter could be dedicated to it- that I didn't feel like there was much of a plot and it got difficult to read further.

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Sydney Australia, Tilly Galloway shares a flat with her friend Mary Smith; their husbands are prisoners of war and have been captured by the Japanese. Tilly has only ever received one post card from Archie when he was first taken prisoner and Mary prays every Sunday at church for her husband Bert’s safe return.

Tilly grew up in Millers Point Sydney a working class suburb; she and her sister Martha have two loving parents. Their father Stan is a wharfie, he works hard unloading ships, lumping heavy bags of wheat and he’s a member of a trade union. Elsie her mum is a nice lady, she loves her big strong hubby Stan and very proud of her two beautiful daughters.

Australian women bravely send their sons and husbands off to fight in WW II. They spent the war years constantly worrying about the telegram boy arriving at their front door, looking after children, knitting socks, sending care packages overseas, they had no idea what post war Australia would be like and how the war would affect husbands and sons.

Younger women or women with no children worked outside the home, making blankets, uniforms, they joined the Australian Women’s Land Army picking fruit and harvesting vegetable crops. Others worked in offices; they replaced men who were off fighting for their country and their fellow allies. Tilly was a secretary and during the war she became a reporter for the Daily Herald and she loved the challenge of her new job.

Once the war in the Pacific ended, the men slowly started returning to Australia and Tilly was expected to give up her job as a reporter. She was given another role at the news paper writing for the Women’s Pages, giving fashion advice and make up tips. Tilly had a taste of independence, she had her own money and supported herself. Tilly struggled with this, she found it very unfair she was good at her job and yet she had to give it up and do the right thing. To keep her boss Mr. Sinclair happy and accept men needed to earn money, they were the main bread winners of the family and that’s how it would always be?

Mean while Tilly is still waiting desperately for news about Archie, Mary’s praying worked as Bert was one of the lucky ones to survive Changi, he struggled to fit back into everyday life, no one could understand what he had been through and not even his wife. The Japanese ignored the Geneva Convention; they worked and starved prisoners of war to death. Tilly had written endless letters to Archie, waited patiently for him to come home so they could start a family and begin the life they had planned. As time went on Tilly had no news in regards to what happened to Archie, she was really worried and what could she do?

The Women’s Pages acknowledges and describes the challenges Australian women faced during WW II and you read about every day life in Australia at the time and after the war ended. How men returning home from war struggled, they were expected to carry on like they had never left, they received no help, and it was very hard for them and their families. Victoria Purman’s books are always well researched; they never disappoint or leave you wanting more and are a pleasure to read.
I gave The Women’s Pages five stars and thanks Harlequin Australia for my copy.

This book is both quite deep and superficial. Sydney’s last few weeks of the War in the Pacific and the months of anticipation and recovery after form the background, and the lives and thoughts of a few central characters form the main focus. The struggle that women had against the resurgence of the pre-war chauvinistic ideals echoes still now in 2020 as does the difficulty the men have with coming back to the idealistic views of Home that has moved on without them.
I really liked the fact that I’ve spent hours walking around the Sydney that Tilly inhabits and could view her world as I read. The passage about Tilly’s thoughts and feelings when in the ANZAC memorial was amazing.
I haven’t read anything by this author before but she’s one I’ll look for in future.

The Women’s Pages is the seventeenth novel by best-selling Australian author, Victoria Purman. Home before Christmas. That is the mantra they all cling to, when Victory in the Pacific is declared on August 15th, 1945. All the families waiting for their sons, husbands, fathers, brothers, uncles, nephews to come home, all reassure each other with this. Some, too, are waiting on daughters, sisters, aunts…

The Daily Herald’s only female War Reporter, Tilly Galloway is realistic enough to understand that not all of them will come home. There has been no word from, or about, her husband, Archie, for over three years, since he was captured by the Japanese in Rabaul, and the forty precious letters she does have are treasured and regularly reread.

She’s held the post for three years, and the censorship of news has been a real frustration, but not as much as the fact that she is relegated to describing the women’s angle on every story, rather than the real news the men get to report. Tilly has had to rise above the sexual discrimination against female journalists, including the belief that women cannot be trusted with secrets because they are inclined to gossip.

When those men do start returning, it’s a bittersweet celebration for Tilly, but she maintains her professional demeanour as she interviews the waiting families for background colour. Those servicemen who did not give their lives for their country are welcomed with open arms; some bring their faithful, unsuspecting wives the unwelcome souvenir of disease; some choose to abandon their waiting spouse for a newer model; some women belatedly learn that they have been a widow longer than they had been a wife.

The return of POWs is delayed by the need for treatment and nutrition: these men are emaciated and scarred, both physically and mentally. When reports of atrocities by the Nazis and the Japanese emerge, and Tilly’s friend, colleague and mentor, George Cooper shares disturbing information, Tilly is overcome by a sinking dread for her husband’s fate.

“The army carefully chose the healthiest ones to come home first. And even then, they’d already had weeks in hospital to get some meat on their bones. To get treated for what was ailing them. To find new uniforms to cover up what lies underneath. There’s still not much more than skin and bone under all that khaki. That whole thing was a public relations exercise and the paper fell for it, we all fell for it, because that’s what Australians want to see”,

The other side of the coin is that, with the men returning, the many women who have kept the country running are suddenly made redundant. Tilly’s editor tells her: “Take a turn at making a home for Archie and raising a family. We need to find jobs for the men so they can have the satisfaction again of being the breadwinner in their families.” Tilly is incensed, too, by the appalling lack of support for war widows.

Purman’s protagonist exhibits a steely determination and the novel would have benefited from editing some of the repetition in the first section in favour of extending into Tilly’s post-war career. Purman easily captures her setting and era; her extensive research is apparent on every page, and the inclusion of many iconic Sydney landmarks will add appeal for anyone who has visited the city.

Through the eyes of Tilly Galloway, Purman richly illustrates how radically the war changed life for the women of Australia. Proving their capability in occupations formerly the exclusive domain of men, women would eventually earn recognition and a measure of independence, permitting them a career beyond housewife and mother. It sowed the seeds of feminism and the fight for equal pay. Captivating Australian historical fiction.
This unbiased review is from a copy provided by NetGalley, Better Reading Preview, The Book Stack and HQ Fiction

‘Her problem was she’d had a taste of a different life and didn’t want to give it up.’

The Women’s Pages is another winning historical fiction story by Victoria. I read and enjoyed her previous work and therefore understand that Victoria undertakes the kind of research that brings the day to day living of those she is writing about to life. On this occasion it surrounds the role of women towards the end of WWII and immediately afterwards. The war may be over but the real struggle for women is just beginning.

‘They thought we would all step back into the shadows, where no doubt most of them think we should have always been. But the shadows are full of secrets.’

This tale takes a detailed look at Australian society at this time - what women had been expected to do during the war and how that role changed once the soldiers returned home. Women, who achieved so much in their war effort support, struggled to let go of their new found independence whilst dealing with the men they sent off to war, returning as somewhat strangers. I loved the descriptions of post war Sydney with Victoria undertaking a detailed investigation of the many confrontational issues of the day and a definite social commentary alongside. These women dealt with uncertainty through the war years and now faced the prospect of not only losing their job, but if their men did return the horrendous outfall of PTSD. If they did not return, there was the overwhelming grief. This is a truly interesting period in Australian history and Victoria definitely does it justice. Reading made me reflect on my mother’s stories about her family and this is a book I am sure she would enjoy.

‘You’ll find plenty to write about on the women’s pages, Tilly. Good stories. Interesting stories.’ ‘Interesting stories?’ she gasped. ‘If they’re that interesting why are they sent to the back of the paper? When was the last time a woman’s story made the front page?’

The only concern is Victoria’s great love of research often involves large information dumps. Sadly, this often takes away from the narrative as momentum is lost in the storytelling for the inclusion of detailed intricacies. Detail on everything from feminism, government, war atrocities, PTSD, housing crisis, wharf front issues, trade unions, communism, returning soldiers, workplace politics, gender pay gaps - the list is quite long. One can only wonder if the book may have been better served with fewer topics that tied in pertinently to key characters. I want more story and less history lesson.

Overall Victoria has compiled an engaging tale about family life and relationships at this turning point in Australian culture. Dealing with the legacy of the old whilst carving out the new. It valiantly shone the spotlight on the women who fought to break free of a solely domestic role in search of greater independence.

‘These women had had a taste of independence, of the freedom of their own pay packet and of the kind of camaraderie that comes with growing to know the people you work alongside.’






This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.

This novel encapsulates the era towards the end and post WWII in Australia. Tilly lives in Sydney and her husband Archie is at war. They had a very short lived marriage before he had to leave. She manages to gain employment at a Sydney newspaper as the chief editor's secretary but secretly has desires to do much more than that. Her sister is also on her own with 3 children to support and her parents live near the docks where her father is a waterside worker.

I remember my mother telling me about the war days and Victoria described it so accurately and brilliantly. About the war rations with butter, unpicking jumpers and re-knitting them, the early days of unions, long working hours and of course her stories of when the 'yanks' came to town with high levels of testosterone and cash to splash. It was an interesting era and had its high points - dancing at the Trocadero to meet people and its low points - terrible working conditions and pay. And of course writing to their loved ones and sending cakes and socks and jumpers for them, hanging out for a return letter.

Tilly finally gets her chance to be a real reporter writing about life after the war and speaks from experience of living with her friend whose husband has just come back and harbours many demons because of the treatment he received while in the service.

She still holds out hope that Archie will return home but in the meantime strikes up a friendship with a fellow reporter Cooper. Victoria also wrote about the early days of women's articles in the newspaper which consisted of recipes, gossip, fashion and advice columns - all of which the male reporters scoffed at as being frivolous and held no respect for women journalists - I think that women may still suffer from this to an extent today.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and it painted a picture of an era which is part of Australia's history and made me think how lucky we are today to live in a country that is not at war and be grateful for how we live now compared to our ancestors. With thanks to Netgalley and Harlequin Australia for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest opinion.

Tilly Galloway’s job as a war correspondent at the Sydney paper had kept her busy while the war was on; her constant worry about her husband Archie kept her awake at nights. She knew he was a prisoner of war with the Japanese but the one letter she’d received had said he was well. Tilly and her best friend Mary – also working at the paper – lived together while they both waited for their husbands to return from the war. When Mary’s husband Bert finally arrived at their door, the elation and excitement brought a lump to Tilly’s throat. Bert had been at Changi and over time both Mary and Tilly could see how he’d changed.

Tilly had been mentored by George Cooper at the paper and he’d taught her well. With George in Singapore at the end of the war, recording the horrific details of the last months and years of the POWs, he also searched for Archie. Meanwhile Tilly’s father, a waterside worker whose hours had slowly ground him down, was on strike. The workers were determined to get better working conditions; less hours and more pay instead of the cruel conditions they were currently working under.

Would Archie be found? Would Bert recover from his time in Changi? Could the world right itself now the war was over? Tilly’s position at the paper meant she could write the news people needed and wanted to hear now censorship was over…

The Women’s Pages by Aussie author Victoria Purman is another heartfelt look at the effects of war on both the men who fought, and the women who remained at home, worrying and keeping the home fires burning. Tilly is an exceptional character and those around her – her parents, sister and nephews, Mary plus work mates – all pulled together to encourage and comfort when it was needed. A thoroughly enjoyable historical fiction novel which I recommend.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my uncorrected proof ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

Some authors have the ability to take a small slice of history that has lain more or less forgotten over the years and turn it into something special. With The Women’s Pages, Victoria Purman has done just that. Set in Sydney during and immediately after WWII, this is the story of Tilly Galloway, daughter of a waterside worker and female war correspondent at the Daily Herald newspaper. Tilly’s husband was taken prisoner by the Japanese in 1942 and she hasn’t heard from him for years.
Tilly’s struggle to prove her worth as a newspaper journalist is one thread in this story but her personal life is really the central theme. She struggles to cope with the absence of her husband and the lack of news about whether he is alive or dead as well as the unexpected yearning she feels after dancing with her colleague George Cooper. “It had been so long since she’d felt the warm and intimate press of a man’s lips on her skin, had felt the solid grip of a man’s hands on her shoulders that it had rendered her speechless and guilty and filled with longing all at once.”
Through Tilly’s eyes we learn about life on the Sydney waterfront as her father and his comrades struggle against oppressive conditions. We see the austerity of the war years, the injustices faced by women working in munitions factories, on the land and in other jobs their husbands, fathers and brothers held before the war. Wage inequality, inequitable treatment and a lack of respect for their efforts are among things that this book highlights.
This story is superbly told, revealing so much history in an emotionally engaging way. While I have always been fascinated with history, a great deal of what is revealed in the pages of this book was new to me or perhaps reflected a different aspect of something I knew a little about. This is not a history book though; its characters are fictional, however they are so well drawn that you could easily imagine having a chat to one or other of them on a street corner. Their stories are woven into the history of the time in a way that is both thought provoking and engaging, and the result is a book that I will certainly want to read again and again.

Victoria Purman is a wonderful writer of historical fiction and her latest release — THE WOMEN’S PAGES proves no exception. This is a celebration of survival from the dynamic centre of Sydney’s newsroom to the homes and lives of the people.

Tilly Galloway is a Daily Herald journalist in Sydney, whose insurance clerk husband signed up and left for war shortly after their marriage. The story begins with celebrations breaking out in the city’s streets in August 1945, on the day WWII ends. Both Tilly and her flatmate friend, Mary, anxiously await the return of their prisoner of war husbands. Tilly hasn’t heard from her husband Archie, since the last letter he wrote following his capture by the Japanese in Rabaul, in 1942.
Tilly is whip smart and stubborn. She spent the war years determined to follow her dream of working as a war correspondent with the opportunity to tell the truth about the war. But frustratingly, despite bearing the honorific title of the first official woman war correspondent, she never left Australian soil. The paper refused to send her to Singapore or New Guinea —only male war correspondents were permitted to accompany the troops.

“We are fighting for everything we hold dear, Mr Sinclair. Our very liberty. Our democracy. For the freedoms of enslaved people who are counting on us to be victorious so they may once again live in peace. We’re fighting against nationalism and pure evil. Young Australians, both men and women, are sacrificing their lives every day for this great and just cause. Why wouldn’t I want to cover such a story?”

The research that has gone into this story is brilliant — I’m always interested to gain insight into events that I previously had no knowledge of. I had no idea about the ‘commies’ of the time, or the families of dockworkers and the poor conditions they struggled under to survive during the war. The tragic fate of the Montevideo Maru, is another event in Australia’s history that I hadn’t heard of.
But the most significant research is showcased by the investigation of women’s lives and the exploration of the way their roles changed dramatically during and after the war. This theme is viewed from a variety of perspectives. Mary’s husband Bert, for example, returns from Changi a shadow of the man whose photo Mary kisses on the mantlepiece. As Mary navigates a return to life with her husband once more, we see the rollercoaster of emotions their reunion brings. Many families suffered when the men returned, and this relationship exposes the inevitable strain and stress of his wartime experiences. Every family was changed.
But for me it’s Tilly’s pragmatic yet vulnerable voice that makes for such a poignant and memorable read. With her husband still listed as missing, Tilly tries to navigate the changes that quickly take place as Australians adapt to life after the war. She’s determined to continue working for the paper as a general news journalist and not be relegated to the women’s pages where society events and Agony Aunt and the price of ladies dresses are reported. Tilly’s background from the ‘other side’ of town had given her a more broad understanding of the world — she had grown up sympathetic to the workers point of view — a far cry from the lives of Sydney socialites.
This is where the novel really shines. I loved the interplay of the female journalist, holding it all together under a veneer of toughness and capability, while she struggles to understand what has happened to Archie. But her character proves a revelation. The love for her friends and their troubles, her support of her darling parents, her concern regarding her father’s illness, all belies the underlying difficulty she was facing. What keeps the pace of the narrative moving is that Tilly cannot move on until she has confirmed Archie’s fate.

Tilly’s friend and mentor George Cooper is instrumental in supporting her aims and it is he who props her up when news of her beloved Archie finally reaches her. Their camaraderie is a balanced relationship of playfulness and support — and we want it to grow into become something more. George is definitely a ‘sensitive new age guy’ well before his time.

There are a lot of beautifully drawn characters in THE WOMEN’S PAGES. The clever treatment of Australian life at this time indicates the immense extent of research the author has undertaken. I congratulate Victoria Purman for opening a brilliant window into the world of post-war Australian society— a vision of how change and progress evolved.

Thank you to Net Galley for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

#NetGalley #HarperCollinsAus #VictoriaPurman

An engrossing story of women's lives in Melbourne during World War II and the anguish and uncertainty they face trying to live "normal" lives while waiting for news of their men fighting overseas. The Women's Pages focuses on Tilly Galloway, a young secretary-turned journalist, hastily married before her high school sweetheart ships out to shores unknown.
While he fights in Pacific jungles, wartime offers her the chance of a lifetime. - to become a news reporter. She is made very aware this is only because the lack of male manpower - many of the men are away fighting. Her's is a "Girl From Wrong Side of Tracks Makes Good" story. Her working class background, her identity as a "Commie water sider's daughter" and her gender all make for a hard slog in the male dominated world of the newsroom, but she prevails and finds success and a new identity, while part of her is always hanging on for word of her husband Archie.
When the War is over will she have to give up her job and go back to being the "little wife" - and how will she feel about that?
Her fears and doubts for Archie's well being escalate when she learns officially that he's a Japanese Prisoner of War. No spoilers here, but the situation for such women is sensitively and keenly portrayed.
A cast of "secondary" characters - Tilly's close friend and flatmate Mary - who is breathlessly waiting the chance to be the little woman at home when (if) her husband returns , as well as other women in Tilly's orbit - her mother, faced with always having to "pick up the pieces" after the latest family drama and sister, left to raise three children alone while her husband is away - - all are beautifully portrayed.
Needless to say when Peacetime comes, it's nothing like any of them have imagined, and they all have to make adjustments of dreams and lives to be able to continue.
The anguish of the marriages where the men do return home, but are so damaged by their experiences they are no the same men as the ones who went to war, and the hurt of husbands who get back home safely but then desert their families - are also sensitively portrayed.
The Women's Pages shines the light on the women who stayed at home, and fought and suffered and sacrificed for their country in so many ways that went unnoticed when the the euphoria of the war's end swept the nation and men resumed their "rightful place" on the domestic front..
A well plotted, beautifully expressed historical novel that gives voice to the fifty per cent of the population who weren't proclaimed as heroes when the war ended. The story is backed by impressive research which gives it all a strong historical foundation.
There will be new things readers to learn and new topics for reflection, even for those who think they know their Second World War history well. Warmly recommended.