Blue Ribbons Bitter Bread by Susanna de Vries | Goodreads

Blue Ribbons Bitter Bread by Susanna de Vries | Goodreads







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Blue Ribbons Bitter Bread

by
Susanna de Vries
4.24 · Rating details · 71 ratings · 13 reviews
Joice Loch was an extraordinary Australian. She had the inspired courage that saved many hundreds of Jews and Poles in World War II, the compassion that made her a self-trained doctor to tens of thousands of refugees, the incredible grit that took her close to death in several theatres of war, and the dedication to truth and justice that shone forth in her own books and a lifetime of astonishing heroism.

Born in a cyclone in 1887 on a Queensland sugar plantation she grew up in grinding poverty in Gippsland and emerged from years of unpaid drudgery by writing a children's book and freelance journalism. In 1918 she married Sydney Loch, author of a banned book on Gallipoli. After a dangerous time in Dublin during the Troubles, they escaped from possible IRA vengeance to work with the Quakers in Poland. There they rescued countless dispossessed people from disease and starvation and risked death themselves.

In 1922 Joice and Sydney went to Greece to aid the 1,500,000 refugees fleeing Turkish persecution. Greece was to become their home. They lived in an ancient tower by the sea in the shadows of Athos, the Holy Mountain, and worked selflessly for decades to save victims of war, famine and disease.

During World War II, Joice Loch was an agent for the Allies in Eastern Europe and pulled off a spectacular escape to snatch over a thousand Jews and Poles from death just before the Nazis invaded Bucharest, escorting them via Constantinople to Palestine.

By the time she died in 1982 she had written ten books, saved many thousands of lives and was one of the world's most decorated women. At her funeral the Greek Orthodox Bishop of Oxford named her 'one of the most significant women of the twentieth century.'

This classic Australian biography is a tribute to one of Australia's most heroic women, who always spoke with great fondness of Queensland as her birthplace. In 2006, a Loch Memorial Museum was opened in the tower by the sea in Ouranoupolis, a tribute to the Lochs and their humanitarian work. (less)

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Jun 15, 2018Diane rated it really liked it · review of another edition
Recommended to Diane by: Chyina
Shelves: nonfiction-biography
Excellent book! I love books where I start a new chapter, and after a couple of sentences, think to myself, "Oh, this bit is going to be boring. Ho hum." ... and that is the last analytical thought I have until I come up for air an hour later, and realise that I've just read HEAPS of pages, and wasn't in the least bored!

If you read the Goodreads synopsis, it outlines the book quite well. By the end of the book I felt that I had 'known' Joice, and I mourned her death, along with thousands of others. To me, a good biography gives your brain much to think about, and your heart much to love ... and this book excels on both counts.

4 Stars = It touched my heart, and/or gave me much food for thought. (less)
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Feb 03, 2014Jane rated it it was amazing
A most amazing Australian woman! This book should be compulsory reading in Australian schools. I have studied Australian history but had never heard of this heroine. Interesting that the Greek government awarded her commendations and recognition, but when I speak to friends and colleagues in Australia no one has heard of her. I will be recommending this book for many years to come.
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Mar 13, 2018Lyn Elliott rated it really liked it · review of another edition
Shelves: australia, biography, book-club, europe, greece, poland, war
An amazing woman and extraordinary story. A book I would never have begun if not for the book club, and I’ll write a full review after our discussion on Saturday.
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Sep 12, 2011Hazel Edwards rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
This is one of my top historic reads about women. Susannah deVries writes in an approachable way about Australian historical women.
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Mar 20, 2017Jan Trounce rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
I have read this book twice now and have bought it for and recommended it to as many people as I could. Joyce Nankivell Loch (an Australian) together with her husband Sydney, carried out the most astounding and inspired humanitarian work during both World Wars. Susanna De Vries brings their lives and the history of those times to vivid life. The story begins on a sugar plantation in North Queensland in 1887 where Joice was born during a cyclone and follows her life through bone numbing poverty in Gippsland to tireless and brave work in Eastern Europe and on to Greece in WWII. Thousands of people owe their lives to Joice and her husband. I think it is also a most beautiful love story. When Sydney died in 1955, Ms De Vries writes of Joice's overwhelming grief thus, "The awful finality of walking away from the grave of the beloved is one of the hardest things a human being has to bear". I can't recommend this fascinating biography enough.(less)
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Jul 31, 2017Pauline rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
This story is mind blowing. Why haven,t we heard of this man and woman? De Vries has done a lot of research to produce a masterpiece. The writing is concise which lets the story speak for itself. And what a story. I still can't believe that she never received any payment for her work.Being one of the world,s most decorated women she lived her life quietly devoted to those she saved.It was fitting though that her friends were among the outstanding men and women in politics ,literature and the church. Maybe the lack of publicity was due the respect with which she was regarded. Still it is comforting to réalisé that they found great happiness in their lives and lived in what was to them a Paradise. (less)
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Jan 27, 2016Jennifer rated it liked it
Recommended to Jennifer by: Catherine
Shelves: book-group-books
I liked the book from the historical and factual perspective. I felt it was too detailed in some areas and very light in others. For example the WWII experiences seem to only be briefly recounted compared with the Irish section on the Black and Tans.
Joice was an amazing and unique woman who seems to have been overlooked by history so I'm glad this book showcased her life.
I really want to give it a 3.5 but I don't think it is a 4, hence the 3.
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Mar 15, 2014Teresa Pitt rated it liked it · review of another edition
I had never heard of Joice NanKivell Loch until a friend recommended this biography. What an extraordinary woman, and what an extraordinary life! I found her story fascinating and inspirational, although I have to say the author's writing style struck me as fairly pedestrian. She has, however, covered Loch's life very comprehensively. I would definitely recommended this to anyone interested in women's history.

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Jun 21, 2018Anna rated it really liked it · review of another edition
Shelves: audio
This is a very old fashioned biography - following Joice Loch in detail through her life from birth to death. Born in Australia and grown up on her father's series of failed farms in poverty, she had a desire for education, escaping rural life and marrying for love rather than status. She and her husband, Sydney, lived in Ireland when the country was split between the English and Irish nationalists, went on Quaker missions post WWI in Poland and Greece, and smuggled Poles and Jews out of Romania just before the Nazis arrived.

At first, I really disliked the narrator of this book, Deidre Rubenstein, because she reads much too slowly. I came around on her because she has such a facility with accents. She does sadness incredibly well but excitement consists of getting louder. (less)
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Mar 22, 2019Sharon Bergman rated it liked it · review of another edition
Interesting subject, learnt a lesson t, just at times very repetitive
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May 19, 2015Lia Aivatoglou rated it really liked it
Loved this book, what an amazing story. Was particularly poignant for me as it is my family history of being forcibly removed from Turkey and becoming refugees in Greece.