The Distance Between Dreams - Book Review

The Distance between Dreams is a heartfelt coming of age tale about dreams, love and choice. It navigates this liminal space in and around our very own Fremantle, in the lead-up to and throughout the second world war. It is a lightly told and poignant exploration of the space between people, between their dreams and what can be achieved, and also the space between generations and the unseen forces that shape us. It ponders the question; are we ever truly free?

In The Distance Between Dreams you will be enchanted to meet Winston and Sarah, two young Western Australians who meet outside a ‘wedding cake’ house in East Fremantle in the late summer of 1939. It was a summer like the one we have just had, ‘March rolled on with no sign of the warm weather letting up.’

Early on, you discover Sarah dreams of escaping the expectations of her privileged upbringing, and Winston can’t afford the luxury of a dream. Despite the distance between them in class, Winston and Sarah are drawn to each other’s kindness and courage. Will this be enough to sustain their love for each other, despite a dark family secret that no one wants to reveal?

Once you meet Winston and Sarah, it is a challenge to put The Distance Between Dreams down. And your reading will be rewarded with evocative descriptions of Fremantle and surrounds, and with the opportunity to travel back in time to experience what life may have been like for your parents or grandparents, navigating their life amongst rationing, the threat of the Japanese, and the descent of Allied American soldiers on what we then called ‘our home town’.

The Distance Between Dreams is also timeless in the way the story ends at the beginning. Or as TS Eliot more eloquently put it in the ‘Little Gidding’ from Four Quartets:

‘We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.’

It is timely The Distance Between Dreams has just been published, a mere week before the death of Arthur Leggett, Western Australia’s oldest surviving World War II prisoner of war at age 106. A state funeral will be held for Mr Leggett and Roger Cook said of him:

‘Arthur Leggett was a Western Australian hero, whose courage and sacrifice will never be forgotten … As we reflect on Mr Leggett’s incredible life, we are reminded of the true cost of freedom and the enduring legacy of those who served.’

Whilst The Distance Between Dreams is not Arthur Leggett’s story, it takes the reader on a journey to imagine what it may have been like to live during the second world war. As we approach ANZAC Day, this is just the book to spend some time with.

Emily Paull

The Distance Between Dreams is the much-nurtured creation – the long-held dream – of local writer, librarian and book reviewer Emily Paull, and has been published by Fremantle Press. It is her first novel, and was shortlisted for the 2023 Fogarty Award and follows her debut collection of short fiction, Well- Behaved Women which Robert Drew described as ‘terrific – tough and moving and gentle and wise’. You could say ‘just so’ about The Distance Between Dreams.

If you like to listen to music whilst you read, put on the album The Compound by Search/Rescue – it was from this album Emily Paull took inspiration for The Distance Between Dreams.

You can get your copy of The Distance Between Dreams at good bookstores and from Fremantle Press right here.

* By Madeleine Cox.

Madeleine Cox was raised on a farm on Binjareb Noongar country and now, together with her New Zealand/Aotearoa husband, lives with her children in Fremantle/Walyalup. She loves exploring places and ideas, and connecting with people and nature. This has prompted Madeleine to start writing independently, after many years work as a corporate and government lawyer, and service on not-for-profit boards in the health and education sectors.

~ For more articles by Madeleine Cox on FSN, look here.

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