'In the Mallee, wide flat scrubland in north-western Victoria, men are bred quiet, women stoic and the gothic is never far away. Olive Lovelock has just turned twelve. Olive is smart, fanciful and brave and on the cusp of something darker than the small world she has known her entire life. She knows that adults aren't very good at keeping secrets and makes it her mission to uncover as many as she can. When she learns that she once had a baby sister who died—a child unacknowledged by her family— she becomes convinced it was murder. Her obsession with the mystery and relentless quest to find out what happened have seismic repercussions. It is Olive herself who has the most to lose as the secrets she unearths multiply and take on complicated lives of their own.
'Little Gods is a novel about the mess of family, about vengeance and innocence lost. It explores resilience and girlhood, and questions how families live with their complexities and contradictions. Resonating with echoes of Australian classics like Seven Little Australians, Cloudstreet and Jasper Jones, Little Gods is told with similar idiosyncrasy, insight and style. Funny and heart-breaking, this is a rare and original novel about a remarkable girl who learns the hard way that the truth doesn't always set you free.'
Source: Publisher's blurb.
Dedication: For my mother, Pamela Ackland.
Epigraph: Though she be but little, she is fierce. - William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act 3, Scene 2
Little Lamb, who made thee?
Dost thou know who made thee...? -William Blake, 'The Lamb'
[Review] Little Gods
Melbourne
:
Bad Producer Productions
,
2018
14402185
2018
single work
review
'Jenny Ackland’s Little Gods explores questions of right and wrong, innocence and guilt, as well as justice, vengeance and atonement. It is a story of family, loyalty and loss.'(Introduction)
'Melbourne-based writer Jenny Ackland’s debut novel The Secret Son(2015), a meditation on Gallipoli, was all about men. Her second book, Little Gods, is all about girls. In particular, girls growing up.' (Introduction)
[Review] Little Gods
Melbourne
:
Bad Producer Productions
,
2018
14402185
2018
single work
review
'Jenny Ackland’s Little Gods explores questions of right and wrong, innocence and guilt, as well as justice, vengeance and atonement. It is a story of family, loyalty and loss.'(Introduction)
'Melbourne-based writer Jenny Ackland’s debut novel The Secret Son(2015), a meditation on Gallipoli, was all about men. Her second book, Little Gods, is all about girls. In particular, girls growing up.' (Introduction)
