Just love this author. Fiction combined with historical fact. Well narrated.

Four Fires, by Bryce Courtenay, Narrated by Humphrey Bowers, Produced by Bolinda Publishing, downloaded from audible.com.

This is a three-generation family narrative covering 100 years, in Australian history, the majority of the narrative taking place from 1956 to about 1964. Nancy Maloney is the mother of all five children in this narrative, but three of them are by different fathers. Her own husband fathered two, but only one in wedlock, so there’s only one legitimate Maloney. Tommy Maloney, the father was a POW in WW II in Borneo and suffered untold cruelty by his Japanese captors but never told anyone about it until the end of his life. He came back from the war damaged, and spent many years as a drunk and a thief. But Nancy was determined that the five children would turn out well and bring the Maloney name up in the world. Sarah, the oldest, unfortunately became pregnant in highschool, but this did not stop her seeking to become one of the first Australian female doctors. Mike had the ambition to become a top fashion designer. Bozo was first a boxer who achieved Olympic status, and then became a very good businessman involving the transportation of goods, Mole, (the narrator of the story) was closest to his step-father, Tommy, learned his skills in the bush and tracking fires, and followed his lead into the army putting himself there just in time to go to Vietnam with predictable results. Little Colene was younger than the rest and was just coming into her own. The Maloneys were scrappers and lifted themselves out of the bottom rung of the town where Tommy and his father before him, had put the Maloney family. This is a brilliant narrative and when it’s over, you’re sorry to say goodbye to the Maloney family. Humphrey Bower does his usual wonderful job of narration.

This book is long, at 770 pages, but is a real page-turner. This is a delightful story of a poor but respectable family in a small town in Australia. It is extremely humorous, poignant, demonstrates the value of sticking together as a family “no matter what” and showcases the gift of having good friends who care about you. The family’s struggle to maintain dignity in the face of ridicule from the town’s “elite” is inspiring. The 5 children work hard along with their strong, determined mother to build a good life.
The family’s struggle to maintain dignity in the face of ridicule from the town’s “elite” is inspiring. The 5 children work hard along with their strong, determined mother to build a good life.
This book has its dark side, however, with Tommy, the father who is usually away on either a binge or a walkabout. The last third of the book recounts his time in a Japanese prison camp, detailing the death marches in WW2 Borneo, and does much to explain Tommy’s behavior to his family. It makes for horrifying reading in an otherwise light read.
You will learn a lot about Australia’s flora and fauna, and its relationship with wild fires. Tommy, despite his demons, is a respected reader of these wild fires, and expert on the Australian bush.
There are political elements too – Sarah, the oldest, has the second-highest marks in the state and wants to be a Doctor; can obtain a full scholarship; but… the medical faculty will not allow a pregnant young woman to join the student body! The pregnancy is a worthy story in itself! The family gets some help from people with influence, and history is made.
This book is bursting with humor and a delightful read. Highly recommended!

What a story! This was my first audiobook and Humphrey Bower's narration made it a real treat. Some of the war stuff was tough to get through, though. I generally avoid war stories, but this had a lot of family saga stuff mingled in. In fact, the war stuff doesn't really come in until the second half of the book. Overall, a worthwhile read that kept me entertained while I logged around 60 miles walking round and round my backyard.

When I first read this, I would have given it five stars. It's another of Bryce Courtenay's carbon-copy exercises in sentimentality. This particular story traces the life of one family (he does enjoy the family dynasty trope, doesn't he?) through the eyes of, I think, Mitch. One family member ends up a boxer, one a successful fashion designer, one founds a business empire based on garbage-collection trucks. The only one who comes to relatively nothing is Mitch, who does nothing but fight valiantly during, I think, WWII. He rises modestly through the ranks, is psychologically scarred, falls in love with some girl, and possibly sings stirring songs in Vietnamese, though that might be a different Courtenay book.

It is implied that Mitch's life is at least as valid as that of the others, for he lived it with courage and integrity. Nothing wrong with that message, but I do wish he could express it in tones a little less maudlin and a little more original.

What a beautiful story of family, triumph and love. Crafted in Bruce Courtney’s accessible style. I personally love books set in country/bush Australia (where I was raised) and this book, for the first part anyway, takes me there with the perfectly imperfect Maloney family. I became so invested in the characters that when the book turns to tales of war (my least favourite genre) I was so connected that I still couldn’t put it down. I’m a BC fan, and to date this is by far my favourite of his novels, including the Power of One.

This was a slow burn but by the time we got about 3/4 of the way through I felt I could not put it down. The book covers a lot of themes such as war, bushfires, religion and all the gossip of growing up in a small country town. The Maloneys were battlers but they definitely won my heart.

The epilogue was a highlight for me that bought it all together.

I will definitely be recommending this to others.

A truly outstanding book, and in my opinion Bryce Courtneys best, it opens your eyes to life in a small Australian community in the 1950s. and gives graphic descriptions of being held a prisoner of war by the Japanese in the 2nd W.W. Yes it is a long book,but one that never failed to hold my interest from first to last page. I have actually read this book 3 times,and each time got some new perspective from the story. In my opinion this is the mark of a great book.

A grand, sweeping novel about the Maloneys, an Irish Catholic family living in the bush in Southeastern Australia. It picks up in the mid-1950s and takes us through the 1990s, but its span of characters also includes "Mr. Baloney", who served in WW I and his son Tommy's horrific experience as a POW in the Pacific Theatre in WW II. The tale is skillfully narrated by "Mole" Maloney, one of the five children of iron-willed Nancy who in so many ways reminded me of my mother's family of three very different brothers book-ended by strong sisters on either end. It's a great study of mid-century life and culture in Australia and the dialect, and the audiobook is beautifully narrated. It's a story about a family that rises from the garbage heap (literally and figuratively) through sheer force of will, pride, strong work ethic, persistence and hope. Through the stories of the family members Courtenay addresses themes such as torture in war, gender discrimination, multi-generational post-traumatic stress disorder, unjust social hierarchies, religious discrimination, and the lasting impact of the holocaust on its survivors. It's long, but I really hated for it to end. I would have given it five stars but for the almost too-lengthy retelling of Tommy's war experience and slightly contrived epilogue which wraps up things pretty neatly - but then concludes in the last sentence or two with a cool twist that rewards readers for their patience.

A throughly enjoyable book, very sad at times.

It wasn't the best book on earth. But you know how when you read a book that you absolutely adore, you read everything else you can get your hands on by that author? And when the author is Australian, making it doubly hard to get his books, it feels like quite a coup to get them? Well, I'm sure you get the idea. I'm beginning to see the themes that Courtenay likes to use (boxing being a key one, and there is another one that I will not mention, in case you are going to read either this or The Power of One) and I'm kind of getting tired of those themes. Also, although it was charming at first, I'm a little less enamoured now of the wonderful people who everyone despises because they are poor or whatever, but who triumph in the end. What I'm saying is that there is not a huge amount of depth here. But it is a good read and is an interesting way to learn about Australia and also about Australian soldiers in the Vietnam war. That is some sad stuff.

This epic should become a Netflix tv series. It would score huge in the ratings if it's produced as honestly as our author. It has everything and I cherish the days that it occupied my mind.
Thank you Bryce