The Book:
“The Secret Son is the first novel by Australian author, Jenny Ackland. James Kelly never knew who his father was; when he finds out, he wonders if he can have inherited the badness that must have resided in this infamous man. Fascinated by old Ahmet's tales, Cem Keloglu decides to visit the Turkish village that his parents and grandfather left 23 years earlier. Berna knows that the arrival of this young man in her village will cause upheavals in all their lives.” Booktopia Aus Customer review
“An Australian historian determined to find the truth, a stolen inheritance, a wishing tree, a long-lost grandmother, and an unlikely sweetheart, come together in a dazzlingly original, audacious and exhilarating novel about love, honour and belonging, and what it means to be a good person. I know that two men are coming up the mountain, at this moment, including the boy from far away. I wonder what my grandson's face will look like...This is a boy in the skin of a man. I know he is innocent; it's his family soul which is guilty. An old woman sits waiting in a village that clings to a Turkish mountainside, where the women weave rugs, make tea and keep blood secrets that span generations. Berna can see what others cannot, so her secrets are deeper and darker than most. It is time for her to tell her story, even though the man for whom her words are meant won't hear them. It is time for the truth to be told. Nearly a hundred years before, her father James had come to the village on the back of a donkey, gravely ill, rescued from the abandoned trenches of Gallipoli by a Turkish boy whose life he had earlier spared. James made his life there, never returning to Australia and never realising that his father was indeed the near-mythical bushranger that the gossips had hinted at when he'd been a boy growing up in Beechworth. Now, as Berna waits, a young man from Melbourne approaches to visit his parents' village, against the vehement opposition of his cursed, tight-lipped grandfather. What is the astonishing story behind the dark deeds that connect the two men, unknown to each other and living almost a century apart? “ Ref: Booktopia Aus.
The Author:
“ Jenny Ackland was born in Melbourne and has a background in primary teaching. She has worked in too many offices but only one themed restaurant; sold textbooks in a university bookshop; taught special education and English as a Foreign Language in Australia and overseas; and worked as a proof-reader on magazines and freelance editor on technical publications. Now, she teaches sexuality and relationships education in primary and secondary schools. She's been blogging since 2005, and her short fiction has been listed in prestigious literary prizes and awards, such as the Bridport and Fish Prizes, as well as published in various literary magazines, including Visible Ink, The Big Issue, Kill Your Darlings and the Sleepers Almanac. Her first novel manuscript was listed in the HarperCollins Varuna Awards for Manuscript Development (withdrawn). She has travelled widely and has spent several years living in Turkey and Japan, but now lives in Melbourne with her husband and their three teenaged children. The Secret Son is her debut novel. “ Ref: Booktopia Aus.
“The Secret Son is a remarkable debut, a dazzlingly original, audacious and exhilarating novel. At once joyous and haunting, and a moving meditation on love, honour and belonging, it is a story about the strength of women and what it means to be a good man. What is the astonishing story behind the dark deeds that connect the two men, unknown to each other and living almost a century apart?.. The Secret Son is a remarkable debut, a dazzlingly original, audacious and exhilarating novel. At once joyous and haunting, and a moving meditation on love, honour and belonging, it is a story about the strength of women and what it means to be a good man... “ Ref: Booktopia Aus.
Booktopia Customer reviews:
1.“Is it pacifism or want of a backbone that sees James going where he is pushed or pulled by others, staying almost by default? Cem is a rather dissolute young man, often shallow, shiftless and selfish, whose attaining of maturity is finally mentioned almost as an afterthought. The purpose of Berna's twenty-seven years of suffering with Ahmet defies logical explanation. Many of the secondary characters, in particular Ibrahim the taxi driver, Harry the historian, Mustafa the village chief, Lame Adar, writer/retailer/father Edward Cole and even Alphonse the marmoset are endowed wisdom, charm and appeal that is lacking in the three main characters, with the result that it is difficult to care a great deal about their fates. This novel has the bones of a great story, with some interesting themes: the secret son of Ned Kelly; a soldier left behind at Gallipoli; the dramas of an isolated Turkish mountain village. Unfortunately, in the fleshing out of these threads, it just does not make the grade. It's a good debut, but due to poor editing, not a great one. The story often seems to ramble on and some episodes drag on to the tale's detriment: if this is meant to help draw the characters, then it could have been done more efficiently. The irony of the title and source of the novel that spurs on Harry's quest is delightful, but neither the significance of the bridge nor the reason a certain skull is buried nearby, is ever really made clear. The potential of this novel was not fully realised.”
2.“An obvious appeal to Australian readers with iconic historical references to Ned Kelly and Gallipoli - but the story seemed very contrived - heavy reliance on coincidence. The use of different voices/narrators was jarring and at times confusing as were the relationships between characters and the genealogy of the village and families. The young character Cem was a most unpleasant individual and his crude language and sexual references seemed gratuitous.”
Our Review:
Like many of the books we read at Book Club this book received a mixed reception from our Book Club members. Some didn’t finish reading the book because they disliked it so much, while about half of our members finished it, some liked it very much and others didn’t like it at all. Most agreed that the leading, present- day character Cem, was a very uncouth, rude and miserable young man. I liked his great-grandfather, James Kelly, the so-called secret son of Ned Kelly, but I was very disappointed that James’ story seemed to be cut short after he left the Turkish village. The author then developed the characters around Cem’s story,Ibrahim the Turkish taxi driver and Harry the Australian obsessed with Ned Kelly’s son were introduced and travelled with Cem back to his family’s village, where he met his grandmother, confusing the story even more. There was a general lack of development in the characters and their stories. The book jumped between the past and present so much it often became very confusing about the relationships between those in the early 1900s/ WW1 and the present day. The book had a very interesting concept trying to combine the bushranger Ned Kelly to a secret son, who was a Gallipoli veteran but it failed to live up to expectations. Many of us enjoyed the sequences of the story that were set in and described Turkish village life and relationships. This was not a great book. I think it promised much but never reached the concept's potential.
Thank you to Margaret Cassidy for writing this review.
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