Set in China during the Second World War, just as the Japanese declared war on the Allies, The Bird in the Bamboo Cage is primarily told from the points of view of two characters, ten-year-old Nancy Plummer and her teacher, Elspeth Kent. The story begins at Chefoo school, an international missionary school, where the children are happy and well cared for, but as war is declared they are first invaded by Japanese soldiers who watch their every move, and they are then uprooted from what they know and feel safe with and moved to an internment camp, where punishment is high, and the Japanese soldiers enjoy making people suffer.
The story follows the teachers and children of Chefoo school as they embark on a torturous and heart-breaking few years, never knowing what is happening at home, whether their families are safe or how long the torment will continue. Hazel Gaynor brings the horrors of an internment camp alive as she describes the living conditions and the events that the children and teachers suffer as they try to survive day to day. The book is also very much about friendship and loyalty, how everyone will work together to get through another day.
To keep things as normal as possible, the girls continue with their Kingfisher Girl Guide troop, working for badges and helping others in the camp, as much as they can.
The Bird in the Bamboo Cage is based on true events and Hazel Gaynor has researched her book well. Once again I have read something based during wartime that I had no knowledge of and knowing that children suffered in internment camps and the sufferings they endured is heartbreaking.
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