Shadows of Olive Trees

Shadows of Olive Trees by Susanne Gervay PB RRP $24.99 ISBN

Reviewed by Dianne Bates

Originally published in 1996, this young adult novel has proved very popular, especially with teenage girls. Set in the mid-1970's in the inner suburb of Sydney, it focuses on the emerging women’s movements as well as on the passions of young women searching for adult identity.

Tessa Kassis, aged eighteen, lives with her Greek migrant parents and younger brother. Confined by the cultural restrictions of her parents, she is trying to live the life of an Australian teenager while keeping her parents’ love and maintaining some Greek traditions. She befriends Athena and Jenny, two young women who join her in searching for independence and identity.

The author Gervay is the daughter of Hungarian refugees who migrated to Australia hoping to rebuild their lives and to be accepted in their new country while trying to maintain their own culture, so she has experienced Tessa’s dilemmas. Like her book hero Tessa, she also developed a passion for women’s rights at a time of the emerging women’s movement.

While Tessa has a dutiful respect for the cultural festivals and religious customs of her family, she faces a dilemma in wanting to live an Australian life. This dilemma causes drama, for example when she disagrees with her controlling but loving father who insists she has a chaperone such as on a university geography excursion. And, too, he insists on finding a Greek husband for her, but she rejects this as she has fallen in love with her professor, David.

There are numerous issues which Gervay tackles, not just cultural conflict, but also the importance of female friendships and sexual issues. Against a background of family traditions and restrictions, she explores Tessa’s growing awareness of her sensuality and her enjoyment of learning.

Shadows of Olive Trees is ideal for adaptation to film as it would educate and entertain a new generation of readers. It is a story of women's empowerment that has relevance today for women and men.

A Cardboard Palace

A Cardboard Palace written by Allayne L. Webster, (MidnightSun Publishing)   PB RRP$17.99   ISBN 9781925227253

Reviewed by Stefan Nicholson

The romantic, bohemian city of Paris is the setting for Allayne Webster’s new novel. Many Paris tourist landmarks are described in great detail during the course of the story, which adds to the authenticity of the author’s research.

The story is centred around a migrant shanty town on the outskirts of the city that is threatened with demolition. The poverty and hopelessness of its residents is shown through the lives of the homeless children who are forced into criminal activity by greedy opportunists and desperate parents.

The first chapter immediately introduces one of these children, Jorge, and his English criminal minder Bill who takes on the modern equivalent of a cruel Fagan.

The story follows Jorge’s struggle with Bill’s manipulation of his army of child thieves.  There is a secondary story surrounding Jorge’s love for Ada who is being forced to marry at the age of 10, accepted by the camp culture. Some of his friends die due to sickness and accident. Jorge realises some relief from his hopelessness in the guise of Australian chef Sticky Ricky who mentors him and the empowerment of his fellow companions as they rise to fight for a better life. The battle then is between the survival of Jorge and the defeat of Bill.

The first chapter is written in past tense to rapidly show the mechanism of the petty theft used by the team on a typical day.

From the second chapter on, the story is written in the present tense through the eyes of Jorge, to create a film-like effect. This is an interesting approach because the present tense allows the story to flow with the immediacy of sequential events, adding to the characterisation of Jorge.  We are there with Jorge as events unfold which makes the climax more intense and satisfying. It does however include expanded descriptions to the story line and the general element of suspense is somewhat diminished because we only see what Jorge sees and not what is happening elsewhere.

This story will be enjoyed by the intended middle-school audience, no doubt with some lively class discussions on the social issues it raises and the way it was written.

Tea and Sugar Christmas

Tea and Sugar Christmas by Jane Jolly, illustrated by Robert Ingpen (National Library of Australia)

HC RRP $24.99

ISBN 9780642278630

Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis

The tea and sugar has run out. The train that brings the supplies only comes on Thursdays. But the first Thursday of December is the day the children of the Plain wait for. It is when Father Christmas travels the line.

Ingpen’s extraordinary art captures the essence of the outback plains, the indigenous children’s longing and anticipation for the one thing that brings the outside world closer to them - the Tea and Sugar Train.

The art and prose encompasses all life in the outback, which includes the post-war migrants that came from Europe to work on the East- West line, and their lives in railway camps. It comes alive under Ingpen’s masterful strokes like a stage production.

The outstanding pencil portraits of the children and Father Christmas, and the divine double-page fold-out illustrations that magnify the settings, bring wondrous detail and action into focus.

The story of the Tea and Sugar Train that from 1915 to 1996 travelled from Port Augusta to Kalgoorlie once a week, is a page taken from our rich history of migration and development. It retraces the forming of the outback, the people’s way of life, and their tremendous contribution to our country. An outstanding production presented in Jane Jolly’s excellent narrative. It’s a priceless addition to any bookcase.