The Lost Child (Suzanne McCourt, Text)

This poignant and atmospheric debut novel set in a 1950s Australian fishing village is told from the perspective of Sylvie, who is five when the story opens. Confused by her father’s violent moods and desperate to be allowed the freedoms afforded her older brother, Dunc, who spends his free time reading Phantom comics and hunting for birds’ eggs, Sylvie tries to make sense of the world around her as her parents’ marriage crumbles. When her father moves out and commits a cruel act against Sylvie and her mother, Sylvie can’t help but tell Dunc when he returns home from boarding school—so when her brother disappears, she’s convinced it’s her fault. But gradually, as the years go by, Sylvie begins to accept the past and understand how it can shape her future and her sense of self. The Lost Child is an assured and bittersweet coming-of-age tale with a vivid sense of time and place. Suzanne McCourt does a particularly effective job of capturing Sylvie’s slowly maturing voice, carefully balancing the story’s sadder moments with her protagonist’s wryly humorous observations. This novel is a strong addition to the shelves of Australian literary fiction.

Carody Culver is a freelance writer and editor and a part-time bookseller at Brisbane’s Avid Reader and Black Cat Books

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Category: Reviews