SUMMARY (from Goodreads): All eleven-year-old Tanya Randall wants is a happy family. But
Mum does nothing besides housework, Dad’s always down the pub and Nanna Purvis
moans at everyone except her dog. Then Shelley arrives – the miracle baby who
fuses the Randall family in love for their little gumnut blossom.
Tanya’s
life gets even better when she meets an uncle she didn’t know she had. He tells
her she’s beautiful and could be a model. Her family refuses to talk about him.
But that’s okay, it’s their little secret.
Then one
blistering summer day tragedy strikes, and the surrounding mystery and
suspicion tear apart this fragile family web.
MY THOUGHTS:
The
beginning felt a little slow, but that later on proved necessary as it provided
the fine cues for the rest of the story.
I was
initially wary of the first person POV. However, Liza Perrat manages to pull
off the 11-year-old’s language and rationale with great authenticity and without
impoverishing the story. Quite the contrary, the style imbued with local
linguistic flavour only enriches it.
While
Tanya’s uncle was the sort of a bad person that made me root for the mobsters
to take him out, I couldn’t help myself thinking that had he received some help
and support, he might not have become what he had. The victim-turned-perpetrator
stereotype doesn’t sit well with me: some victims do turn out just like their
abusers, but it is not inevitable if the people close to the victims and the
society at large offer them proper help.
I loved how
in The Silent Kookaburra Perrat
seamlessly and with great insight incorporates a number of issues which are
still current (or which are, really, current in every age.) These range from poverty,
domestic violence, depression, loss of a child, alcoholism, superstition and prejudice
against immigrants and people of other religions, and probably some more that I
forgot about.
Tanya
herself has a lot on her plate, dealing with alienated parents (from each other
and the children), bullying, low self-esteem, having to grow-up early, and
being the target of the mysterious uncle who says all the right things to make
her feel good but has nefarious intentions towards her.
In several
ways, I could relate to Tanya, and Liza Perrat captured her struggles in a very
genuine manner that truly resonated with me.
At the end
of the story, one of the main mysteries of the book remained unresolved. But
that is just life; we don’t always get all the answers.
And finally,
I loved that Tanya got her happy ending, albeit it was a bit clichéd, and that certain
prejudices were overcome for the good of everyone involved.
RECOMMENDATION: The Silent Kookaburra is an incredibly rich story set at
the beginning of the era I would consider ‘modern’ that provides a wealth of
food-for-thought for everyone not afraid to dig into some, perhaps uncomfortable,
but still very current and important issues, and is, therefore, a very
compelling read.
The author has sent me a free copy of The Silent Kookaburra in exchange for an
honest and unbiased review.
