The Red Shoe

Ursula Dubosarsky (author)

Allen & Unwin, 2006: 168pp

ISBN: 1741142857

Note: extension concepts

Genres: historical fiction, realistic fiction

CBCA Honour Book, Older Readers, 2009

Told principally from the point of view of six-year-old Matilda, this is the disjointed story of a troubled Sydney family in the 1950s.

Elizabeth, at fifteen, has suffered a nervous breakdown, overwhelmed by the darkness and chaos she sees in the world around her. Frances, eleven, finds home rather frightening, with its constant emotional upheavals. Matilda, six, is an observant child who sees far more than is good for her. Their father, a sailor, has suffered from depression and nervous attacks since the war. His wife struggles to maintain a stable family, assisted by her brother-in-law, the cheerful Uncle Paul.

This is an era where polio is a looming threat; the Petrov affair dominates the news and the atomic bomb could wipe out the entire human race at any moment. It is a time of poverty, and political change on the national and international stage. Nosy little Matilda epitomises the brash, hopeful spirit of post-war Australia, slightly fearful but determined to make the most of every opportunity that might turn to her advantage.

This is a strange creation from an award-winning Australian writer. It is not often that a publisher will take a risk on experimental fiction for the children's audience. Dubosarsky uses actual news clippings at the beginning of each chapter to establish the social and political context for the characters that are the focus of her writing.

The story is an oddly sequenced selection of flashbacks that gradually build a picture of a family that is more threatened from within than without. As in the wider society, honesty, openness and mutual support are the keys to survival. An interesting but uneasy read, The Red Shoe explores themes of corruption, desire, fear and love as they are expressed in childhood, adulthood and the political arena. The narrative resolution may seem unclear but this is, nevertheless, a novel that, like Picnic At Hanging Rock, will stay with the reader - if only for the questions is raises rather than those it answers.

Warning: suicide of one character is witnessed from above by Matilda