Blue Ribbons Bitter Bread: The Life of Joice Nankivell Loch

​This is not a new book and was a spontaneous selection from my local library as I had previously read, and greatly enjoyed, other titles by author Susanna De Vries. (Her book Desert Queen was one of those I read when researching my blog post on Daisy Bates.)
 
There are some individuals who live such extraordinary, generous and altruistic lives that one is almost dumbstruck by their sacrifices and achievements.
 
The name Joice NanKivell Loch probably doesn’t mean much to the average person, although in parts of Greece she is still a legend and she received many honours from Poland, Serbia and Rumania for her humanitarian work. In her homeland of Australia there are scant echoes of her.
 
Born in the middle of a cyclone on a Queensland sugar plantation in 1887, she was the granddaughter of one of Australia’s richest men, Thomas NanKivell, but she would see nothing of the family’s wealth. Her father George’s farming enterprises all failed and Joice’s childhood turned into one of grinding poverty, living in bush shacks and labouring like a slave on the land. Her dreams of becoming a doctor were dashed, but her love of writing would sustain her and eventually lead to her becoming a published author and journalist. After her only brother was killed in World War I, at the age of 26 she finally broke free of her domestic drudgery and found opportunities in Melbourne.
 
She married Sydney Loch, another writer and veteran of Gallipoli. Together, they were commissioned to write about the troubles in Ireland. After a dangerous time in Dublin, the couple were forced to flee due to likely IRA retribution. Although not religious, they found work in Poland with the Quaker Relief Movement and began their lifetime work in humanitarian service. Whilst in Poland, they were instrumental in saving countless numbers of refugees from starvation and disease, often at risk to their own lives.
 
In the 1920s, Joice and her husband moved to Greece where a new wave of refugees were fleeing from Turkish persecution. Although she was never fully qualified as a doctor, Joice was to become a highly-respected medical practitioner in her new home near Mount Athos and treated many more who suffered from famine, disease, wounds and other afflictions. As a mid-wife, Joice also saved the lives of many women and babies who would otherwise have fallen victim to the primitive beliefs and superstition then practised in that remote region of Greece.
 
There was never a quiet retirement for Joice and during World War II, she plunged headlong into another risky rescue adventure. Just before the Nazis took Bucharest, she escorted a thousand Jews and Poles to safety via Constantinople to Palestine.
 
Joice died in 1982, having also found time to write ten books 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’.”
 
Throughout the book, there is evidence of the misogynist, class-ridden and outright racist Anglo-Australian thinking of the time. Joice had to put up with derogatory male attitudes. As Poles and Greeks were often considered second-class citizens, it meant that Joice was only awarded the lowest class of British honour with just an MBE for her humanitarian work, whereas the European countries where she lived and worked lauded her with their highest medals and awards.
 
This is an absorbing and magnificent story of a truly inspirational woman who should have far more recognition than she does. Very highly recommended.
 
Five stars.
 
Note: The author’s website says that all 6 editions have sold out, but new copies are available by print-on-demand. Click here for info.
Second-hand copies will be available via usual dealers.
 
 
 
 

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