Me and Rory Macbeath (Richard Beasley, Hachette)

In his third novel, Richard Beasley tells a ‘rites of passage’ story from the perspective of the child while the adult lurks in the background. The best parts of Me and Rory Macbeath get this really right: the scenes of childhood morphing into early adolescence, the delicate indicators of class, and the attempts to make sense of the behaviour of adults. But this novel is more ambitious than the story of ‘the summer that changed my life’; a large portion of it is dedicated to an exploration of the role and status of women in the 70s in suburban Australia, and to a courtroom drama in which the systematic abuse of one woman is uncovered. Unlike a novel such as Craig Silvey’s Jasper Jones, which stays firmly in the realm of the kids’ experience of discrimination and abuse, Beasley makes his child narrator interpret the language of the courtroom and the adult world. The credibility of this shift relies on the strength of the central character of Jake, and whether he can convince readers that he is both the child we have followed through his final summer of childhood, and the man who is reflecting back on this time. At times this balancing act doesn’t quite work. However, for the most part the writing is strong and creates drama and suspense. Like Jasper Jones, Me and Rory Macbeath should cross over to YA readers who are interested in a story of right versus wrong, and the retro nostalgia of the Australian suburbs.

Annelise Balsamo is a freelance reviewer and English teacher

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Category: Reviews