![]() First UK edition | |
Author | Jon Cleary |
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Language | English |
Publisher |
Collins (Australia/UK) William Morrow (US) |
Publication date | 1980 |
Publication place | Australia |
A Very Private War is a 1980 novel by Australian writer Jon Cleary about coastwatchers during World War II. [1]
Mullane, an American coast watcher in New Britain, goes on a mission to uncover the camouflage of the airstrip of a Japanese base. He is accompanied by an Australian officer and captured Japanese officer. Mullane gets the chance to avenge the death of his Japanese wife, killed prior to the war. [2] [3]
The Sydney Morning Herald wrote "Cleary is neither a stylist nor a profound writer. He is essentially a storyteller, and very good one, most at home in the fields of action and adventure, as A Very Private War demonstrates", calling it "a straightforward, uncomplicated tale of wartime derring-do." [4]
In 1981 there were reports a film version was in development with the Queensland Film Corporation [5] but no movie resulted.