A child survivor of the Holocaust, Diane Armstrong migrated to Australia from Poland in 1948 during the postwar boom. With a long career as a journalist and novelist, in her new book she’s returned to that time.
Empire Day follows the lives of the residents of Wattle Street in Sydney, as the locals try to adapt to the unfamiliar ways of the immigrants escaping Europe.
I met with Diane to talk about how she transported herself back to the 40s, the things she remembered and the ways in which her characters took on lives of their own.
Music featured:
Say it with Firecrackers – from Holiday Inn
Buttons and Bows – Dinah Shore
Rambling Rose – Perry Como