Spirit House

David is 13 and confused. His mum has left with her lover and dumped David on his grandparents. David's grandfather, Jimmy, is 70. He spends his days at the social club grumbling with his three best friends, all of them Jewish-Australian survivors of the enforced labor camps of the WWII Thai-Burma Railroad. But behind their playful backbiting and irresistible wit, Jimmy and his friends are haunted by the ghosts of long-dead comrades, and the only person Jimmy can confide in is a 13-year-old from a different world. . .

Mark Dapin has been editor-in-chief of ACP's men's magazines, and a hugely popular newspaper columnist. He is the author of King of the Cross, which won the Ned Kelly award.