Pan's Whisper by Sue Lawson

For starters, I’d like to preface this review by saying that I don’t go out of my way to read realism. It’s not really my genre of choice, but every now and then I’ll read something that makes me think: If it’s all this good, I really should be reading more of this stuff!

Pan’s Whisper is the first book by Sue Lawson that I’ve read, even though she has written nearly 20. Once again, trust me to discover someone brilliant who has a huge backlist that now I feel compelled to add to my already overloaded reading pile. She is a Victorian who’s writing voice is convincingly Australian without coming close to being overbearingly so.

Back to the book at hand: Pan’s Whisper.

I’m sitting here, staring at the book, trying to think of what to write and all that’s going through my head is: Oooo I loved this book!

So, I will try to do better than that.

Pan (short for Pandora) is being put into a foster home. (I’m not spoiling anything here; it’s on the back of the book and on the first page…) The trouble is, she doesn’t want to be in foster care, which contributes to her being obnoxious and defiant. She has very particular memories of her childhood and can’t work out why she should be there. She feels betrayed by her sister and misses her mother, as difficult as her mother could be.

Enter Hunter, a boy who couldn’t possibly know what she’s going through. Could he?

The thing about this book that really made it work for me (other than the brilliant writing) was the format. We experience life with Pan, who has buried memories she doesn’t want to uncover. Early on, her foster mother suggests writing to her sister and supplies paper, envelopes and stamps so she can post them herself. The book then unfolds like this: Pan lives her life in foster care, attending a new school; she sees or experiences something that causes a fractured flashback; she then writes to her sister (letter format) describing the memory from the point of view of her younger self; then we are shown that same experience from Pan’s sister’s perspective which, bit by bit, reveals the lengths the she went to in order to protect Pan from what was actually happening. It is these memories from the sister’s perspective that become increasingly heart wrenching.

My goodness this book is fantastic! I’m getting shivers just writing about it!

If you like realism, then it’s for you. If you’re not so partial, then I suggest you give it a go anyhow. Each time I see the cover or hear ‘Pan’s Whisper’ I think: that book was GOOD! I’m sure you will too.

The Chapter Sampler is HERE

Life: An Exploded Diagram by Mal Peet

Wow! I have heard some glowing reviews about Mal Peet’s writing in general but had never had the time to read any of his books. Until now… and I’m left amazed!

Peet’s prose is a smorgasbord for those who love the English language and what it’s capable of. Full of rich and original descriptions and subtleties that state plainly what going on in the story, but allude to so much more. If there is one thing he has achieved in this brilliant book, it is a perfect illustration of Life as an exploded diagram.  No piece of the story is too small or too large to be left out. Each little detail all fits perfectly into the picture. Peet has superbly realised with this novel what his narrator has with his art: “I’ve made my living these past thirty years painting and drawing things exactly and intensely as they are and letting them speak for themselves.”

The story itself centres on two teenagers who are trying to make sense of life and love in the English countryside in the shadow of the Cuban Missile Crisis. The missile crisis is explained in detail as it will affect both of them more than they could have ever imagined.

This is for the reader who wants more. More of everything. More of life. It is not simply another teenage love story. Quoting the book: “Lord knows, bookshop shelves already creak under the weight of Misery Memoirs and Teen Novels that might as well all be called My School Hell. I have no desire to add my small pebble to that avalanche of unhappiness.” 

Do not be fooled by this being shelved in Young Adult fiction sections of bookshops. While it is a great read for the teen who wants something meatier, something better, it is just as much for adults. Those that lived through the missile crisis, those that have only heard about it, those that haven’t but have had a run-in with teenage love, and those that are simply fascinated by life and how everything fits together. In all honesty, I have no interest in politics, but there was no point in this book that I didn’t want to keep reading. Such astounding writing has left me invigorated. I strongly suggest you read this book.

Now I’ve got all of Mal Peet’s other novels to look forward to. As a friend said to me recently “I’m jealous that you’ll get to read them for the first time.” There is a magic in that first reading. There certainly was in this one.