loved this series of books about Early settler life in Australia. This book covers the Australian side of the second world war and the continuing saga of the divided Solomon family.

Solomon’s Song, by Bryce Courtenay. Narrated by Humphrey Bowers, produced by Bolinda Audio, downloaded from audible.com. This is the third in the Potato Factory trilogy taking place from about 1840 to 1916 in Australia.And once again another brilliant book Bryce Courtenay thank you.

Humphrey Bowers is worth the book. I think these books are ones that would not have been as good if not narrated by Bowers. In this third book, we go on with the two families, the Solomons, and the Tinklemans. Courtenay is particularly good at writing war narratives, and he spends most of this book dealing with WWI and the Australian regiments that fought in it. There’s one thing I don’t like about Courtenay’s books, at least this trilogy, they all end sadly.

Love and Hate between/amongst families of three generations. One can see how history repeats itself. It seems creed, colour and racism will never leave the minds of the people.

Not quite up to the high standard set by the first two books in the trilogy. While it's interested to find out what happens, the time gap between the beginning and the events at Gallipoli is too big. It just felt like the author felt the need to include Gallipoli by using existing characters - would have worked better as a separate story.

This book was brilliantly written and left me in shock long after the last page was turned. While the first two books in the series were well done, this one really was the gold nugget of the lot. Alone this book wouldn’t have had as big an impact. You really do need to read the other books first. What an amazing tale. I am so glad I picked these books up.

Bryce Courtenay is one of my Top 5 favorite authors and this trilogy is amazing - I give all three books 5 bright and beautiful stars. (I listened to the audiobooks on Audible and the narrator, Humphrey Bower, was OUT OF THIS WORLD good).

Bryce Courtenay is one of those authors who have made a life-long impact on my reading journey. Courtenay’s many books have touched on a variety of topic, all of which prove enriching and impactful. Courtenay chose to write an epic story to thank his adopted homeland of Australia, told in three, long novels. He concludes his trilogy, using his powerful way with words and a multi-generational exploration of the Solomons. Filled with themes and key characters in early Australian history, the story finally pushes past the date of federation, when Australia stood on its own, while still under the auspices of the British Commonwealth. This is not only a story about a number of characters who fill the pages, but of a country seeking to leave its infancy behind and stand independent. Brilliant seems too watered down a word for Bryce Courtenay’s efforts.

Picking up soon after the last novel ended, news comes that a body has been discovered in the harbour and the identification makes it seem to be Tommo Solomon. Mary and Hawk make their way to the coroner’s to identify the body and make the needed arrangements. As she is getting on in age, Mary requests—demands—that Tommo’s daughter be sent for, having moved to New Zealand to become a nurse. Hawk agrees to go find her, following the rumours that Hinetitama has fallen onto hard times. A ‘half-caste’, Hinetitama has her Maori roots, but is scorned in a country that still wishes to subjugate those they have colonised. When Hawk brings her back, he is able to convince Hinetitama to live and spend time with her grandmother, who wants nothing else than great-grandchildren before she dies.

In an effort to ensure this happens, Mary works her wiles on the one man who has held Hinetitama’s heart, the Dutchman Slabbert Teekleman, though he is anything but an upstanding gentleman. Bearing two children, Ben and Victoria, Hinetitama soon falls into the bottle once more and disappears, leaving Hawk to act as surrogate parent. Mary’s death also shakes the family to the core, but her choices ensure that the brewery is left in good hands.

It is around this time that the other branch of the Solomon clan reemerge, headed by David, who kept a life-long hatred of Mary for what she did in ruining his mother’s marriage to Ikey Solomon, head of this entire family. A business conglomeration does little to settle the score, though the Solomons are joined together in business, alternating power of the massive Solomon-Teekleman company, depending who is in possession of a majority of the shares.

Fast-forwarding out of the nineteenth century, Australia has been able to stand on its own and emerges ready to play a significant role on the world stage. When the winds of war begin to blow, and with David Solomon ready to die, his grandson, Joshua, emerges on the scene to serve in the military. Alongside Joshua, his cousin, Ben, is also ready for the military commitment, sent to battle under the auspices of fighting for King and country. Courtenay uses this decision—Australia’s Commonwealth commitment to the War—to serve as the major theme of the book. Ben leads a company of soldiers into training and eventually onto the European front, where they meet many an adventure and brutal bloodshed. So many young men, the premiere stock of future Australians, leave to fight for Britain’s interests and end up strewn across the battlefield. Ben served his country well and the story turns into a war novel, exploring the key battles of the Great War.

Bitter that he is watching those around him die, Ben is vilified by senior military officials, while Joshua is kept safe in England. All this comes to a head when they meet on the battlefield; two men serving the same country, but whose lives could not have been more different. It is here that Courtenay injects his most powerful storyline, as the Solomons must either bury their past, or use the animosity to fuel yet another skirmish, while Europe is torn apart. A brilliant end to the trilogy, Courtenay does things in this novel that I cannot begin to elucidate clearly. A master storyteller with a passion for his adopted Australia, it is a novel—and series—that should not be missed by any with a passion for inter-generational tomes.

I have long been a fan of Bryce Courtenay and have a great love of novels that explore inter-generational development within a family. The writing throughout the series is outstanding and places the characters in key situations against the backdrop of history to shape the narrative in many ways. There are a handful of key characters that shape the story at different points, perhaps none more so than Hawk and Hinetitama in the early portions and Ben in the latter segment of this massive tome. The struggle to shape the Solomon name is a task that neither Hawk nor Hinetitama could have expected would rest on their shoulders, but they do it so well. No one is perfect and no family is free from fault, but these two exemplify the pains of being minorities in a land that is still trying to find its feet, using horrible racism to fuel their individuality.

As I have said in the reviews of the other pieces, racism is rampant, though I think it serves to explore the pig-headedness of a new country and these two characters have faced a significant amount of the physical and verbal abuse. Ben Teekleman is a Solomon like no other, who chooses to rise above it all and serve his country without reservation. Courtenay depicts him as a strong, young man who does not get involved in the politics—familial, national, or racial—of those around him, but prefers to make a difference in the lives of those in his sphere. What Ben sees, especially when he is shipped to Europe, cannot be described with ease in this review, but readers who enjoy war history or depictions of the daily situations of soldiers will lap up much of the narrative.

There are a handful of other key characters throughout, fuelling key aspects of the Solomon family feuds and the struggles to shape Australia in their own image. Courtenay is known for his powerful themes and this book does not differentiate from that, though anyone looking for a novel about the niceties of people or their interactions with others should look elsewhere. There is little that leaves the reader feeling warm and fuzzy, but the narrative is so full of passionate storytelling that it should not be dismissed. All three novels have been stellar in their delivery and Courtenay’s best works that I have ever read.

Kudos, Mr. Courtenay, for a powerful novel and dominant trilogy as you explore the rougher side of life in and around Australia.

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What a series! What an incredible group of characters! Loved this series and so so sad it’s over.

It has been a long journey to get through this series, but I finally did it. I liked this book least of the three, however. It somehow seemed disconnected to the “real story”. And the ending left me . . . Well, let’s just say it was a bad ending. So many questions left unanswered, so much sadness left unresolved. Yes, life is sometimes like that, but darn, I wanted something . . . different than what I got. Not sure what yet. Something more satisfying something involving Hawk more directly, I guess. Maybe it will come to me in a few days. Right now I just feel kind of empty.

The third of the Potato Factory trilogy. We've come a long way from the beginning. The first two books were better, in my opinion. This one takes us away from the family and into the first world war. Not a pretty picture, but the author shines a light on the ineptness of many of the leaders of the British military machine. Many sad incidents as we see what life might have been like for an Australian service member under British command during those days. I have read before of the unsuitability of the upper echelon of the military - soft lives before the war, totally unprepared to lead real men into battle.

This installment of the Potato Factory is an entirely different story from the first two. The second half of the story (and it is a LONG one) could almost be set aside as a novel itself. The love the common soldiers had for each other was inspirational and truly heart-rending. The ineptness of the leadership was infuriating. The tragic results, heartbreaking.

What a fantastic end to a three book trilogy. The Anzac experience in fighting against the Germans was incredibly detailed. The historic value of this book is excellent and detailed with a fanciful tale of the grandchildren of Ikey Sullivan who are still in a rivalry with the children of Ikey's horrid brother David. I wish there were more to this series. Bruce Courtenay makes each of his strange and wonderful characters come alive.

A fitting conclusion to The Australian Trilogy

This book concludes the saga so beautifully started in The Potato Factory. It immerses one completely in the continuing family story and is thoroughly descriptive of all human nature. It runs the reader through the full gauntlet of emotions. However, if the reader is at all squeamish, I suggest be wary because of that descriptiveness. It describes the horror, futility and comradeship of WW1 in full force.