Fireshadow
Encyclopedia
Fireshadow is a novel
written by Australia
n writer Anthony "Tony" Eaton
and first published by University of Queensland Press
. It is set in two time zones, flashing between them and following a character in each. One timeline is set between 1941 and 1946, and follows a young German man "Erich Peiters". The other timeline follows an Australian boy named Vinnie Santani, and is set in the present day.
The main character is Erich Pieters who is quite an old man, who is quite sick. The novel doesn’t provide much of a physical description of him but is does provide a good description of his personality. Erich grew up in a small family of a mother, father and younger sister. His father wasn’t around much when he was younger as he was an army officer who worked for Hitler. When the war started (Erich was only 17 at the time) Erich signed up for the army to the disapproval of his mother and sister but not his father. His father was a very proud man and Erich took after him. Soon after Erich went to war, he was captured and sent to Australia to a prisoner of war camp. As he developed into a man, he became less proud and his personality developed as he tried to overcome his adversity of adapting to such different surroundings and treatment. As Erich aged he became wiser and more caring for those around him. As shown at the end of the novel, Erich is a gentle caring man who as he says “I may be sick, but my eyesight, hearing and memories are as strong as ever!”
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
written by Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n writer Anthony "Tony" Eaton
Anthony Eaton
Anthony Eaton is an Australian writer of fantasy and young-adult fiction.-Biography:Eaton was born in Papua New Guinea in 1972 and moved to Perth, Western Australia during his childhood. After attending university he worked as a literature and drama teacher at Trinity College, Perth for eight...
and first published by University of Queensland Press
University of Queensland Press
Established in 1948, University of Queensland Press is a dynamic publishing house known for its innovative philosophy and commitment to producing books of high quality and cultural significance...
. It is set in two time zones, flashing between them and following a character in each. One timeline is set between 1941 and 1946, and follows a young German man "Erich Peiters". The other timeline follows an Australian boy named Vinnie Santani, and is set in the present day.
Plot introduction
Taking place during World War II, Fireshadow follows two seventeen-year-old boys. Erich Pieters joins the German Wehrmacht to fight for Chancellor Adolf Hitler in 1941, and winds up in an Australian Prisoner of War camp after fighting in North Africa. Half a century later, Vinnie Santiani flees into the remote Australian Bush in an effort to cope with the death of his sister. Despite the fact that they live in different times, the boys' lives intertwine in the novel with haunting results. A reviewer for Magpies commented that the award-winning book's "language is exceptional throughout ... while the author's insights into the emotional lives of the young people are sensitively conveyed."The main character is Erich Pieters who is quite an old man, who is quite sick. The novel doesn’t provide much of a physical description of him but is does provide a good description of his personality. Erich grew up in a small family of a mother, father and younger sister. His father wasn’t around much when he was younger as he was an army officer who worked for Hitler. When the war started (Erich was only 17 at the time) Erich signed up for the army to the disapproval of his mother and sister but not his father. His father was a very proud man and Erich took after him. Soon after Erich went to war, he was captured and sent to Australia to a prisoner of war camp. As he developed into a man, he became less proud and his personality developed as he tried to overcome his adversity of adapting to such different surroundings and treatment. As Erich aged he became wiser and more caring for those around him. As shown at the end of the novel, Erich is a gentle caring man who as he says “I may be sick, but my eyesight, hearing and memories are as strong as ever!”