| A Very Private War | |
| Author: | Jon Cleary |
| Country: | Australia |
| Language: | English |
| Publisher: | Collins (Australia/UK) William Morrow (US) |
| Release Date: | 1980 |
A Very Private War is a 1980 novel by Australian writer Jon Cleary about coastwatchers during World War II.[1]
Mullane, an American coast watcher in New Britain, goes on a mission to uncover the camouflage of the airstrip of a Japanese base. He is accompanied by an Australian officer and captured Japanese officer. Mullane gets the chance to avenge the death of his Japanese wife, killed prior to the war.[2] [3]
The Sydney Morning Herald wrote "Cleary is neither a stylist nor a profound writer. He is essentially a storyteller, and very good one, most at home in the fields of action and adventure, as A Very Private War demonstrates", calling it "a straightforward, uncomplicated tale of wartime derring-do."[4]
In 1981 there were reports a film version was in development with the Queensland Film Corporation[5] but no movie resulted.