Caprices (review)

Caprices is a collection of short stories set in the Philippines, New Guinea, Australia, and Thailand—in jungles, prison camps, and villages with the World War ii campaign in the Pacific as historical backdrop. In spare (not stark), richly imaginative prose, Sabina Murray takes us into the minds of men, and some women, struggling to survive under ghastly circumstances. I was especially impressed with the story "Walkabout," whose characters (two brothers) are part Aborigine. An interesting piece, "Position," imagines Amelia Earhart landing on Saipan and chillingly describes the island's citizenry jumping off cliffs—either suicide or prodded by Japanese soldiers. The writing is visceral and, in some passages depicting the landscape, also lyrical. This is hard-hitting, amazing stuff written by a young (34 years old) woman who, with great imaginativeness, has made good use of family stories passed on about World War II.