‘Please send snaps of my dear mother and father, my sisters Sarah and Evelyn, and my bonzer little poddy calf, Zeus.’
It’s 1917, three years into the Great War, when Edie takes up a teaching post in the small Australian town of York.
Mourning the loss of her beloved brother on the Front and evading her father’s plans for a respectable marriage, she’s glad to keep busy teaching at Miss Raison’s School for Girls. After a little persuasion, Edie agrees to take part in a comfort scheme sending photos of home to the troops.
Edie’s new venture throws her into the path of the family secrets, scandals and class complexities of her new town – and a handsome, exasperating man her father would never approve of. With each new encounter, her world gets bigger and more complex, until Edie’s asked to make choices that could turn her cautious life upside down – and change the very course of history.
Drawn from the true stories of Australians during WW1, this is historical fiction at its best. Charming and heartfelt, Snapshots from Home is perfect for fans of Fiona McIntosh, Joy Rhoades and anyone who loved The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.
Buy a copy of Snapshots from Home here.
Read some great reviews from our Preview readers here:
The perfect book to curl up with on the couch on a rainy afternoon! Jacqui, NSW, 5 Stars
Despite being a departure from Sasha Wasley’s past two contemporary novels, this gorgeous historical story is just as heartfelt and compelling. Inspired by WWI’s Snapshots from Home League, this is an impeccably researched novel that lends it evocative settings and nuanced characters. From precocious school girls and conscientious objectors to the suppressed young Edie, who yearns to break free of her father’s iron grip to discover her own potential in the world. There’s a sense of wonder and expansion that pervades each page as Edie challenges herself and her beliefs while discovering the stories behind the portraits she’s shooting to send back to the soldiers on the frontlines. Brimming with grief, hope, budding love, and the search for one’s purpose, Snapshots From Home is a beautiful novel with twists and turns that kept me turning the pages long into the night. Leearna, VIC, 5 Stars
Loved it! Loved the characters. Loved the story, it was so well written. Very easy to follow and a smooth storyline. Great little book that would suit any book lover. I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of reading Snapshots from Home, I can’t wait to read more by Sasha Wasley. Katrina, QLD, 5 Stars
I loved Snapshots from Home and it left me wishing the story wouldn’t end. Set in the early 1900s during wartime, the story unfolds as Edie navigates and challenges parental and societal expectations and perceptions of what a young lady should be. It was heartening to follow Edie as she finds her inner strength, through the encouragement of others, to follow her passions and help others while risking disapproval from those who could take everything away from her. Through family scandal, Edie finds true friendship and love in those who care not for maintaining face and pride, but who love and care for Edie as she is. It is a lesson that through accepting and loving people for who they are and not for class, position or pride, you find inner happiness and love. Gillian, WA, 5 Stars
Absolutely loved this book! As someone unfamiliar with Sasha Wasley I am now a huge fan. Effortless reading and a story I genuinely couldn’t wait to get back to if I had to put it down. Terin, QLD, 5 Stars
Set in regional WA during 1917, this book has a wonderful way of viewing the war waging in Europe, its impact on those at home, bereavement, hardship, political turmoil, and deception. A brilliant storyline, well-developed, easy to imagine characters (you’ll either love or loathe); reading Sasha Wasleys’ Snapshots from Home was a joy. Edie is a young, intelligent woman under the thumb of her tyrannical, class-conscious father. She is grieving the loss of her brother at Gallipoli and longing to escape her oppressive controlled life. Her appointment to a teaching position far from home is the beginning of her escape. In York, she mixes with warm and friendly people from all levels of society. Unbeknown to her disapproving father, Edie’s secret passion and talent for photography is nurtured when she volunteers for the Snapshots from Home League. The class divide becomes increasingly apparent when she visits York families while fulfilling soldiers’ requests for photos of home, family, and friends. Edie, her effervescent inquisitive student/assistant Kitty, and Kitty’s politically outspoken brother Teddy take the reader on a journey of discovery and enlightenment. Subdued, obedient Edie starts to think, speak, and stand up for herself; she discovers scandals, long-kept secrets, true friendship, and love. You don’t need to be a lover of historical fiction to love this book. Sandra, NSW, 5 Stars
Snapshots from Home has you feeling at home with the characters right from the start. Get swept along with Edie and her coming-of-age story and love story. If you love Australian war stories with a romance this one is for you. Penny, QLD, 5 Stars
An enjoyable read – funny, interesting, educational. A look at life in the early part of last century and what it was like in Australia during World War One, keeping you enthralled from beginning to end. It has some exciting twists and turns. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Australian history. Julie, NSW, 5 Stars
Snapshots From Home by Sasha Wasley was a most enjoyable book. I love reading Historical Fiction because it takes a truth from history and expands on it. In this book, Edie, a teacher and an amateur photographer, is introduced to the YMCA’s Snapshots from Home League, an initiative to encourage the soldiers fighting in WWI. I loved this idea, as I love taking photos and my daughter is a photographer. But I also liked the story of Edie and those in her circle of friends, family and acquaintances. Life wasn’t easy for Edie but she persevered and had good friends to encourage her and help her along the way. They helped her see things in a different way and gave her confidence to pursue her dreams. There was romance in the story. It was a very good book. Denise, SA, 5 Stars
This book was a good insight into how women and the lower class were treated at the beginning of World War 1. Edie’s sass and determination to help families in the most harrowing of times by taking photographs to send to the soldiers overseas was inspiring. The way she had to contend with her domineering father and the haughty families to become her own person was inspiring. The twist near the end gave the story a very good ending. Margaret, NSW, 5 Stars
This story was lovely. Edie, who loved teaching and moved away from home and a father who belittled her at every chance, is a woman after my own heart. She shared a love of photography with her brother who had died in the mud of WWI and was moved to pursue her hobby when asked to join the movement “Postcards from Home”. The delight she took in taking photographs of the families requested by soldiers at the front was shared by one of her students. Her father didn’t know of this and she had to use all her wiles to keep it a secret from him. The characters in this book were a delight and Wasley’s descriptions made me laugh out loud at times. I loved this book. I knew the areas of WA it was set in and this made the story very special. I laughed, I got angry and I cried reading this book. It is wonderful. Lynda, SA, 5 Stars
I absolutely loved this. From the minute I started reading it I was hooked. Edie was a fabulous main character – independent, feisty, and warm. I felt invested in her story, wanting her romance with Teddy to happen and for her to stand up to her horrible father. Not my usual genre but I am really glad I gave it a go. Donna, VIC, 5 Stars
Snapshots from Home is about a scheme for soldiers at the front to request photos of family at home. It exposes social mores of the time. Life in the middle of WWI was difficult even in Australia. It was very much a patriarchal society. Women from the upper classes were not allowed to know about business and finances, but working-class women had to work as their breadwinners were probably at the front. They were paid a pittance compared to men, while factory owners got rich. Working to improve the lot of workers was seen as just as much of a disgrace as conscientious objection. Edie was a strong young woman but would she have been as strong if her mother had been there when she was growing up? Did her brutal father make her what she became? An emotional moment was when Edie met family members she didn’t know existed. A good story that gave me plenty to think about. Judith, VIC, 5 Stars
Sasha Wasley’s Snapshots from Home is a book I didn’t know but I needed to read. The stories will stay with me – expressed with such heartbreaking separation from a time long ago. Inspiring in so many ways, the messages about love, connection, home and loss are beautifully strong. It’s a tale that needs to be told and shared and I so enjoyed reading this book. Its love shines through in such an endearing and powerful way. Cathy, QLD, 5 Stars
Thank you #betterreading for this book. I really enjoyed it. Another story set in WWI, but this was written at a different angle and was absorbing and interesting. Edie lives at home with her very horrid sarcastic Father. Her beloved brother Aubrey had just died at the war front overseas. Edie has just started to teach at a private girls’ school away from home and felt relieved to be away from her father. Times were certainly different in those days, and Edie felt so threatened to do anything that her father didn’t approve of. But she loved photography and an opportunity came for her to take photos for soldiers overseas of their families living in her area. These were then sent off over to the soldiers. A local photographer Ted Macmillan developed the photos for her. They didn’t get off to a very good start and her local headmistress was aghast that she would mix with this conscientious objector and forbade her to see him. Edie discovers many family secrets, scandals, and class differences, and she got involved in the town more and more. This is a really good book that I happily recommend. Lyndsay, QLD, 5 Stars
What a wonderful read Snapshots from Home was. It’s well-written, an interesting story, and meticulously researched. The story moves at a good pace with enough interest along the way to keep the reader engaged. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about an era of Australian history from a different perspective. Vanessa, QLD, 5 Stars
This beautifully told story set in Western Australia covers a short period during World War 1. Edie accepts a teaching position in York, enabling her to escape her controlling, nasty father and easing the pain of the loss of her brother who was killed on active service. Her friend Florrie knows Edie’s love of photography which she shared with her brother and involves her in a scheme run by YMCA called Snapshots from Home League whereby soldiers request photos from home. With the help of one of her students Kitty, they visit many families in the area and are confronted by many different situations. Edie finds Kitty’s brother a difficult character because of his strong political views but cannot avoid him as he runs the gallery where her films are developed, and he is also able to take her and Kitty to visit more distant families to take photos. Frederick has plans for his daughter to marry a very unsuitable character, but Edie knows that this is not what she wants and is now able to stand up for herself. I found the characters all very believable and enjoyed their development throughout the story. This book is full of wonderful surprises that I did not see coming and made this my favourite book of the year. Marg, VIC, 5 Stars
I really enjoyed the way this book follows the lives of families in a small country town in Australia. The story follows a young woman whose brother had died in the war, living at home with a cruel father who appears to be a pillar of the community but at home controls his daughter’s every move. Despite this, she manages to obtain a teaching position in another town and also becomes involved in a programme taking photos to send to the soldiers overseas. Through this she discovers a family secret which changes the course of her life. With the encouragement of the people she meets, she manages to become an independent woman and make a new life for herself. The twists and turns in this story kept me involved until the end. Margaret, NSW, 5 Stars
My first response to finishing this book was Omgoodness I flipping loved this! Twists I never saw coming and watching the main character grow and become the person she is meant to be was at times frustrating and also exciting. I felt like I was on the sidelines cheering her on. There were people I loved and people I loathed in this book and this kept me flipping the pages to see what was next for all of them. It’s a wonderful step back in time and a look at how things have changed throughout the years. If you love historical fiction you’ll love this book! Tracey, VIC, 5 Stars
Snapshots From Home was a book that came as a pleasant surprise to me, as it’s not a genre I would usually be drawn to. Sasha Wasley has created a fantastic, deep and loveable character in Edie Stark, and it was easy to also love the surrounding cast of characters in Edie’s life. The novel does a fantastic job of exploring emotional abuse and its impacts; the divide between social classes; and the growth of its main character into a strong fighter for social justice in a time when this was not accepted. Edie is a career woman in an era where this was highly frowned upon – her strength is incredible, and I loved following her story throughout this novel. Toni, NSW, 4 Stars
Overall, this book was a highly enjoyable historical fiction read, set in a small town in WA Australia during WWI. Typical of the times, women still had their place in society, political themes were strong, and class society still existed. We follow the story of Edie, who has recently gotten out from under her father’s strict control to become a teacher. We learn she has lost and is grieving her dear brother Aubrey to the war. They were particularly close and shared a love of photography. Edie joins the ‘snapshots from home’ program, sending photos of home requested by soldiers on the frontline. I loved seeing her growth, learning to stand up for herself, as well as her healing through her photography. I also loved her friendships with other characters such as Kitty, her student, and Kitty’s older brother Teddy, who opens Edie’s eyes to the world and challenges traditional views on subscription and dying for a fight that was not ‘ours’. There were also a few secrets discovered along the way that keeps the reader entertained. This was a unique story from WW1, that was highly enjoyable. Melissa, VIC, 4 Stars
Edie has long endured the wrath and abuse of her strict and, seemingly, heartless father. She is constricted by his tough rules and by early twentieth-century society which has firm ideas about appropriate conduct for a young lady. Things have only gotten worse since the death of her brother at Gallipoli. Edie takes up a post as a teacher in the small Western Australian town of York. Suddenly her world begins to expand. Edie volunteers with the Snapshots from Home scheme and begins to send photographs to servicemen of their families, friends, sweethearts and, perhaps, even their favourite poddy calf. She becomes surrounded by new friends, new ideas, and exposure to the social and political issues of the day. She even meets a scandalous young conscientious objector. With increased freedom comes increased friction as she starts to test the boundaries of her relationships and career choices. Her discoveries about her own value and role in society make this such a rich and satisfying story. This is a wonderful novel filled with small-town comings and goings and richly drawn characters. It provides a unique perspective of the unfolding tragedy of World War I. It is frustrating but also satisfying to witness Edie’s awakening and transformation. Readers will feel compelled to follow her journey. Heidi, SA, 4 Stars
This is yet another facet of the Great War, set in 1917, when young Edie takes up a post as a teacher in the small West Australian town of York. It’s a relief to her to get away from the family home. Her father has been verbally abusive all her life. The things he calls her! Totally untrue and simply horrible. He tightly restricts her behaviour and is a very prejudiced man (in most things, it seems). Edie’s mother died when she was very young, and her beloved brother Aubrey has tragically been killed in the war. She is inconsolable at Aubrey’s death, he was a lovely man and a wonderfully supportive brother through their father’s abuse. Edie’s grief is raw and seems insurmountable, coming on top of her father’s erratic and abusive behaviour. So it’s a relief for her to take up her new teaching position, far from home, even though her father objects violently. She makes friends and discovers there are nice people in this world after all. Edie begins taking photos of ordinary families (and animals and tractors and houses) for the soldiers at the front, via the Snapshots From Home League. Something her father would never allow if she were at home. But she discovers how good she is at it, how wonderful it is, and how each family has their story. As time passes, we learn more about the volatile political situation in Australia and see Edie slowly unfurl into a more assured woman. There are quite a few secrets that change things at the end of the book. Worth discovering! Thank you Better Reading Preview, Pantera Press, and Sasha Wasley for a fabulous new WWI story. Malvina, NSW, 4 Stars
Snapshots from Home was a lovely homely read. Being from WA, the description of all the towns and suburbs of our state painted a very clear picture of life here in 1917. Although suffering huge personal loss and managing family expectations, Edie agrees to take on a project to help our troops overseas. It was so interesting to read how a simple photo can mean so much to a person. Even though the book is written in wartime, much like the Guernsey Literacy and Potato Pie Society, the book shows how war affects so many people, even those not fighting in the battles, and makes the story about those left behind. Amidst the backdrop of the heartbreak of war, this read shows how the choices a person is asked to make can change the course of their lives. A great read inspired by real stories, definitely worth a look. Suzie, WA, 3 Stars
Constantly chasing the perfect shot and adapting to new environments must be both challenging and rewarding. When I started using a Polaroid camera during my own travels, I quickly realized how important it is to understand the settings to capture scenes properly. This site https://skylum.com/blog/polaroid-camera-settings was a game changer for me. It helped me figure out how to adjust for different lighting and conditions, especially when shooting on the go.