I had high hopes for Keneally's Shame and the Captives too as it is based on the true story of the Cowra breakout. I finished my highschool years in Cowra and I am very familiar with this story and the local area.

My first disappointment was the introduction where Keneally explained that he had fictionalised everything, including the name of the town.
"Fiction has always tried to tell the truth by telling lies."

I was instantly alienated from this story.

Everytime, Keneally wrote Gawell, instead of Cowra, I saw red! I couldn't get past this feeling and in the end had to give up on the book entirely.

Which is a shame, because I enjoyed his last book which was set in Kempsey (& Egypt & Gallipoli). He was able to write fiction about real events in real places in The Daughters of Mars - why not this one?