The Occupation (Chloe Adams, Penguin)

Chloe Adams’ debut, The Occupation, brings to life the constraints placed on Australian women in the aftermath of the Second World War. The story follows Mary as she travels to Allied-occupied Japan, where she lives in relative comfort and isolation among fellow Australians. She gradually becomes aware of the impact of war on the people of Kure and its surrounds, seeing beyond the limits of her own sheltered experience. Mary’s world expands further through her encounters with Sully, an Australian journalist. Yet, even as her perspective broadens, she remains aware of the constraints in her life and the power the men around her hold. Adams is careful to point out that she is not attempting to write from a Japanese perspective. Drawing on her own family history, as well as sources including news reports and personal memoirs, she grounds the novel in the specific lens of Anglo-Australian middle-class culture, deliberately limiting the story’s scope. In her author’s note, she also alerts readers to the confronting language and attitudes of the era. Much like its protagonist, the novel quietly builds emotional and thematic strength beneath a composed surface, offering a nuanced exploration of privilege, perspective and postwar realities. Adams’ writing beautifully evokes a moment in history and the emotional experience of many through one woman’s journey. A worthy winner of the 2024 Penguin Literary Prize that readers of Alli Parker’s At the Foot of the Cherry Tree will likely enjoy.

Books+Publishing reviewer: Catherine Manning is a library and local history officer. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

Books+Publishing pre-publication reviews are supported by the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund.

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