Brothers Far from Home: The World War I Diary of Eliza Bates

Patricia Morley is professor emerita of English and Canadian Studies at
Concordia University. She is the author of several books, including The
Mountain Is Moving: Japanese Women’s Lives, Kurlek and Margaret
Laurence: The Long Journey Home.

The subtitle, The World War I Diary of Eliza Bates, pinpoints the
subject and the format of this very personal tale, which spans the
period from December 1916 to the end of the war (Armistice Day, November
11, 1918).

The diary belongs to 12-year-old Eliza Bates, who was born “smack in
the middle” of a clergyman’s large family. Diary entries are the
perfect format for an imaginative young person straddling the border
between childhood and early maturity (Eliza’s older brother calls her
“the monkey in the middle”). Eliza’s active memory and personal
reflections conjure up vivid portraits of a Protestant family during
what came to be commonly called the Great War—a traumatic period that
dragged many countries into the modern era and hastened the maturity of
young survivors.

The last diary entries cover Armistice Day. An epilogue entitled
“What Became of Them All” is told in another voice, that of author
Jean Little. Briefly and effectively, Little sums up how the war changed
her characters and society’s view of women. We learn that Eliza became
a primary-school teacher and a minister’s wife.

There are 10 pages of black-and-white photographs, a few maps, and an
editor’s note. Little, who has been legally blind since birth, has
written more than 35 books, many of which have won prestigious literary
awards. Brothers Far from Home is an important addition to her
impressive record as writer and role model. Highly recommended.