If you grew up and went to high school in Australia, it’s likely you might have heard of Melina Marchetta. One of her earliest books ‘Looking for Alibrandi’ is an Australian coming of age story, so naturally you are normally forced to study it in English. Normally, any book you have to read in English is automatically ruined by the fact that you had to study it in depth and go over it again and again, but luckily Marchetta’s stories draw you in so much that (for me anyway) I was immune to it and to this day that is still one of my favourite stories (in movie or book form).
I have read most of Marchetta’s books over the years, and her stories are normally pretty high up on my list of favourites. Another of her stories ‘Tell the truth, shame the devil’ is probably my second favourite book of all time, but a review of that book is for another time. Throughout some of her books, there has been some recurring characters, and each book explores another person from that group in depth. ‘The Place on Dalhousie’ is the third in this series, exploring the life of Jimmy Hailler and Rosie Gennaro.
The way Marchetta tells stories is by peppering the story with little seemingly insignificant details which all wrap together in the end to show the inevitability and magic of fate and how some people are just magnetically drawn to each other, despite their directions in life. I won’t say much more about the story, because one of the best things about this story is how the relationships and various sub plots slowly play out and tie together.
Instead, I will just say that this might not be the best of Marchetta’s stories, although I must admit she has set the bar pretty high with some of her previous books. She does however, make the characters so familiar to the reader, that it felt as though I could walk down the street and run into any of them, it might help that I do live in the area where her story is based though.
The characters are all raw, and have faults and at times can be extremely frustrating, but at the end of the day, you’re still invested in their story and their happiness, which to me is the sign of a winning story.
I give this book 4 out of 5 stars, but if you’re looking for Marchetta’s best work, I would recommend one of her others (‘Looking for Alibrandi’, ‘On the Jellicoe Road’ or ‘Tell the Truth, Shame the Devil’).
A Turtle Stranger 