Where the Line Breaks

The Unknown Digger is Australia's answer to famous First World War poets, Brooke, Sassoon. But for decades, his identity has remained a mystery. Matthew Denton – Australian PhD student at University College, London – believes the unknown poet is one of Australia's greatest war heroes: Lieutenant Alan Lewis VC of the 10th Light Horse. Matt is starry-eyed and in love with Emily, a fellow student and assistant to Matt's supervisor, the nattily dressed Professor Alistair Fitzwilliam-Harding. But, as the footnotes to Matt's thesis reveal, not all is fair in love and war. Meanwhile, Alan Lewis, recently engaged to Rose Porter – fights his way across the Middle East as part of the 10th Light Horse, the vision of the life he left behind disappearing, and the question of what makes a poet, a lover and a hero growing more ill-defined with every battle fought.