The PM’s Daughter

The PM’s Daughter by Meredith Costain (Puffin Books) PB RRP $16.99 ISBN 978176104 6704

Reviewed by Kathleen Grace

This book is a novelisation of a TV show (currently screening on the ABC) rather than an original work and is inspired by the original program created by Tristram Baumber and Matthew Allred. Inside the book are pages of photographs showing actors in the show.

The story’s protagonist is Cat Parkes Perez whose mother has recently moved her and her great-aunt Jacinta from Perth to Canberra where they are to live in The Lodge. Many new people come into Cat’s life including two friends, Ollie Yeung, son of the Deputy Prime Minister, and Sadie whose parents own a catering business. There’s also Georgina Pryce, whose father is opposition leader, Miro, the US diplomat’s son, Grace, the PM’s assistant, and Yvette who drives Cat to school in a Commonwealth vehicle.

Life at The Lodge means having every moment scheduled and every outfit pre-approved. But it’s not just the dinner parties and daggy dresses – Cat and her mum disagree on practically everything, especially the government’s climate policy. To that end, Cat becomes involved in Action Uprising, headed by Murphy Barnes.                                                                                  

When Cat’s mum makes her first speech at The Lodge, someone organises a drone which deposits bird poo on her, a stunt that embarrasses her. Someone is trying to sabotage the new PM – putting Cat, and everything she loves, in danger. Will she, with the help of some new friends, be able to make things right, for her family and the country?

This book, with plenty of political action (including a Mock Parliament at Cat’s school), is likely to appeal to readers aged 10 years and older.