Now is Not Forever

Robert Andrews

 

Perhaps the life he lived may not have happened quite the way he thought it did

The Victoria Cross was the nation’s highest award for gallantry during a time of war.

And it’s in just such an unfamiliar world at war that Journalist, Steven North, finds himself unexpectedly lost as he goes in search of Lieutenant James G. Boshier, an officer who has been awarded the V.C. for acts of valour in the steamy jungles of New Guinea during WWII. But Boshier doesn’t exist. In fact, all the records show that he never did.

Sixty-five years later, white-haired Lara who lived as a young woman during those turbulent times of war, may have a key to unlock secrets that still lie buried beneath the layers of so many years. Secrets about Boshier,
perhaps? But as Steven digs deeper into Lara’s album of photographs, and with his editor’s deadline about to shut him down, events from the past reach out to overtake him in ways he could never have expected.

This is a story about the human heart and its enduring ability to find fulfilment. It’s a story of reckless romance in the shadows of a global catastrophe. A story of contradiction, confusion and rejection. But, ultimately, this is a story of hope reimagined.

And now, finally, as Steven North stands beside the grave of a wartime friend, that hope reaches out across a great gulf of years to help him find the sort of resolution that will give him the peace he has been searching for.

About the Author

Robert “Bob” Andrews was born in 1942 in north-western NSW during the turbulence of World War II. His early years were marked by upheaval, including his mother’s escape to Queensland while his father served overseas. Life steadied when Ken Andrews, a returned serviceman, entered their lives and later adopted Bob, giving him the stability that shaped his future. Bob went on to work in Queensland’s cane fields before pursuing studies in agriculture, theology, chemistry and geology. He spent 35 years as a high-school science teacher and Head of Department. Now retired in Copacabana, he enjoys life with his wife, children and grandchildren.