Trooper To The Southern Cross

By Angela Thirkell

Australian Major Bowen survived the First World War, now he has to survive the journey home.

After the Armistice he sets out for God’s Own Country with his English wife Celia. Much to his delight, and her disgust,they are sailing on the Rudolstadt, a troop ship, filled with his officer chums and their families.

However the long journey to Australia is not as smooth as Bowen hoped, and made all the more rocky by a lack of booze on board, the 800 riotous diggers, and a gang of prisoners on the lower decks of what they call the ‘hell ship’…

Trooper to the Southern Cross, first published under a male pseudonym in 1934, is based on Angela Thirkell’s own experiences of a thrilling journey to Australia aboard a troop ship with her second husband. It is perfect for fans of Kazuo Ishiguro and Parade’s End

Angela Thirkell (1890-1961) wrote many works of fiction and non-fiction, including twenty-nine ‘Barsetshire’ novels, which won her great popularity and acclaim. The first of these, High Rising, was published in 1933. Her relatives included Edward Burne-Jones, Rudyard Kipling and Stanley Baldwin, and her godfather was JM Barrie. She was twice married and had four children.