A huge problem with Australian books is how quickly they go out of print. Lothian deserve heaps of praise, therefore, for re-issuing several recent titles on their children's and young adult lists.

The Devil's Own won the Western Australian Premier's Award in 1991 for its moving portrayal of a tragic event in that state's history: the wreck of the Dutch ship "Batavia" in 1629.  While most of the crew and passengers managed to survive on the desolate Abrolhos Islands, a band of mutineers took savage control after the captain sailed north to the Dutch East Indies for help.

Dozens of the survivors were murdered or raped, as the mutineers sought to control a fortune in gold, until help finally arrived some months later.

Deborah Lisson tells this story through the eyes of a modern teenager, Julie, stuck on what she sees as the Hell of a family sailing holiday to the Abrolhos.  She is swept up by the terrifying story, as she tries to make sense of the ways people thought and acted nearly 4 centuries ago.

Her encounters with the various characters force her to reassess her modern attitudes and behaviour, and to realise that things could be far worse than being stuck in a boat with your little sister.

It is a gripping story as she deals with evil and death, trying to make sense of it and to survive. While Lisson's representation of the 16th century characters might be a little too flat - they are either heroic, evil or scared witless - they provide an excellent setting for Julie's journey of self discovery.

Lisson manages this balance of these two stories very well.  Julie's personal story makes the chilling history immediate and real.  The historical story helps Julie through a sulky teenager's daydreams.

The "timeslip" device has been used over and over again by authors wanting to link past and present.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, mainly because of the difficulty in using an obviously artificial situation to highlight reality.  Lisson, like a good stage director, is able to make us suspend our disbelief by focussing on the personal issues underlying the parallel stories

The Devil's Own, like Lisson's other book Red Hugh, tells us that history is not something dry, dusty and separate.  It influences us, it is part of our lives, it is all around us. 

Other titles by this author:
Red Hugh (Lothian 1998)

Review by David Beagley

© 2000 David Beagley