The Secret Son 1
- Please Note: We will source your item through a special order. Generally sent within 120 days.
- ISBN:
- 9781925266160
- 9781925266160
- Category:
- Fiction
- Age range:
- 0 to 0 years old
- Format:
- Paperback
- Publication Date:
- 01-09-2015
- Publisher:
- ALLEN & UNWIN
- Edition:
- 1st Edition
- Pages:
- 336
- Dimensions (mm):
- 234x153x25mm
- Weight:
- 0.45kg
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Reviews
1 Review
3.5 stars
The Secret Son is the first novel by Australian author, Jenny Ackland. James Kelly never knew who his father was; when he finds out, he wonders if he can have inherited the badness that must have resided in this infamous man. Fascinated by old Ahmet’s tales, Cem Keloglu decides to visit the Turkish village that his parents and grandfather left 23 years earlier. Berna knows that the arrival of this young man in her village will cause upheavals in all their lives.
Is it pacifism or want of a backbone that sees James going where he is pushed or pulled by others, staying almost by default? Cem is a rather dissolute young man, often shallow, shiftless and selfish, whose attaining of maturity is finally mentioned almost as an afterthought. The purpose of Berna’s twenty-seven years of suffering with Ahmet defies logical explanation.
Many of the secondary characters, in particular Ibrahim the taxi driver, Harry the historian, Mustafa the village chief, Lame Adar, writer/retailer/father Edward Cole and even Alphonse the marmoset are endowed wisdom, charm and appeal that is lacking in the three main characters, with the result that it is difficult to care a great deal about their fates.
This novel has the bones of a great story, with some interesting themes: the secret son of Ned Kelly; a soldier left behind at Gallipoli; the dramas of an isolated Turkish mountain village. Unfortunately, in the fleshing out of these threads it just does not make the grade. It’s a good debut, but due to poor editing, not a great one.
The story often seems to ramble on and some episodes drag on to the tale’s detriment: if this is meant to help draw the characters, then it could have been done more efficiently. The irony of the title and source of the novel that spurs on Harry’s quest is delightful, but neither the significance of the bridge, nor the reason a certain skull is buried nearby, is ever really made clear. While the potential of this novel was not fully realised, Ackland will be an author to watch.
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