Trooper to the Southern Cross

'A riotous little gem rediscovered.'Kirkus Reviews

Major Bowen is a fine upstanding Australian officer.

He has survived the First World War—Egypt, Gallipoli, France—and found a ‘dinkum Pommie missis’ in London.

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

Only the journey to Australia is a long one, made all the longer by the lack of booze on board, and the 800 riotous diggers and a gang of prisoners on the lower decks.

Trooper to the Southern Cross, first published under a male pseudonym in 1934, is based on Angela Thirkell’s own experiences of travelling to Australia aboard a troop ship with her second husband.

It is an affectionate satire on the manners and mores of Australia, and an intimate portrait of post-war male camaraderie.

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.

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