Ever wondered who took care of the farms when our Aussie men went off to war? We’ve got just the book, and author, to fill you in.

Join bestselling Australian author, Victoria Purman, at the Grafton library this month to hear about her latest novel, The Land Girls.

The Land Girls is set in 1942 as war engulfed Europe, the Pacific and then knocked on the door of Australia.

A moving story of love, loss and survival against the odds, The Land Girls follows the life of spinster Flora Thomas, as she transitions from a dull office job to a member of the Australia Women’s Land Army.

There she meets Betty, a 17-year-old former shopgirl keen to do her bit for the war effort and support her beloved, and the unlikely Lilian, a well-to-do Adelaide girl fleeing her overbearing family and the world’s expectations for her.

As the Land Girls embrace their new world of close-knit community and backbreaking work, they start to find pride in their roles. More than that, they start to find a kind of liberation.

But as the clouds of war darken the horizon and their fears for loved ones – brothers, husbands, lovers – fighting at the front grow, the Land Girls’ hold on their world and their new-found freedoms is fragile.

Victoria Purman will speak at Grafton Library on May 28, 6pm. Her most recent novel is The Last of the Bonegilla Girls.