Finding Darcy

Sue Lawson (author) 

Black Dog books, Australia: 2008; 280pp

ISBN: 9781742030234

Genres: history, realistic fiction

Issues: bullying, communication, family, friendship, identity, relationships, siblings, trust, war

When Darcy Abbott's ‘Studies of Society and the Environment' class is given an oral history assignment on World War 2, she knows she has a problem. Nobody in her family ever talks about the war. Ever. It's forbidden.

Attempts to do so trigger stony silence or bitter anger. Darcy has never understood why. Staying with her grandmother (Misery) and great-grandmother (Batty) while her mother, a nurse, updates her training in Melbourne, Darcy has been deprived not only of her usual easy-going lifestyle but also her personal computer.

Facing failure on her project, Darcy starts secretly researching the great-grandfather for whom she was named, determined to understand the anger, grief and trauma that has tainted three generations of women in her family. Limited to the school computers for internet research, Darcy finds herself hunting through her grandmother's house to find something - anything - that will bring to life the ghost that haunts her family.

Can the truth about her great-grandfather's death bring healing? And can Darcy endure the mindless bullying of her peers as her research brings to the surface the grief and confusion she felt when her father died when she was four? Supported by her friends, if not her family, Darcy realises the SOSE project has become a journey requiring an open mind and strong spirit.

Skilful writing makes this rather serious novel a thoroughly memorable read, provoking the reader to pause and think deeply about the many consequences of war. Often a first-person narrative can be either overly limited in its narrative perspective or attempt an unbelievable omniscience. This carefully crafted novel avoids those pitfalls and uses the limited perspective to underline Darcy's sense of isolation and confusion as she struggles to understand her very difficult grandmothers. This allows the reader to directly experience Darcy's changes in perspective as her research allows her to see the two women in the context of their upbringing and experiences.

As Darcy's two-dimensional, black-and-white view of them changes, so does the reader's. The narrow first person point of view positions the reader to experience much more directly the emotions, thoughts and development of the central character - Darcy.

Intense, skilful writing makes this rather serious novel a thoroughly memorable read, provoking the reader to pause and think deeply about the futility, destructiveness and pain of war. As Darcy learns, if we worked a little harder to understand and value one another, the world would be a much more peaceful place in which to live.

Highly recommended.