The Golden Day by Ursula Dubosarsky
Jan. 15th, 2014 11:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
There were only eleven of them, like eleven sisters all the same age in a large family … On the television news they heard gunfire and the sound of helicopter blades and bombs falling. The little girls hung on to the brink of a hugeness that they knew was there but had no way of discovering.
The Vietnam War rages overseas, but back at home in a year that begins with the hanging of one man and ends with the drowning of another, eleven schoolgirls embrace their own chilling history when their teacher abruptly goes missing on a field trip. Who was the mysterious poet they met in the garden? What actually happened that day? And most important, who can they tell about it?
In beautifully crafted prose that shimmers and fades, Ursula Dubosarsky reveals how a single shared experience can alter the course of young lives forever. Part gripping thriller, part ethereal tale of innocence lost, The Golden Day is a poignant study of fear and friendship, and of what it takes to come of age with courage.
It’s 1967 in Australia. There are 11 girls in Cubby’s class, which is taught by Miss Renshaw, a former actress who likes to take the girls out of school to the nearby gardens to see Morgan, a draft dodger and poet. The girls think that Miss Renshaw fancies Morgan – Georgina even saw them kissing. Miss Renshaw tells the girls that they can’t tell anyone about their trips to see Morgan – it’s their secret. This is why none of the class will tell the truth about what happened the day Miss Renshaw and Morgan took them to the sea caves – the day that Miss Renshaw disappeared.
Seen through Cubby’s eyes, the girls try to make sense of what happened that day just as Cubby begins to assess her friendship with best friend Icara in a coming-of-age story set against the backdrop of Australia’s participation in the Vietnam war …
Ursula Dubosarsky’s literary YA novella is a slim but beautifully written coming-of-age piece set against the backdrop of the Vietnam War. Characterisation is sparing, with Cubby and Icara getting the most page time but I enjoyed the slow reveal of Icara’s home life and the shifting dynamics between the classmates. Unfortunately this is a very thin novel and although the Vietnam War’s supposed to be the backdrop there’s little real sense of it or its impact and the time jump to 1975 was too jarring while the resolution felt a little tacked on. Ultimately, it’s an okay read and I would check out Dubosarsky’s other work but there isn’t enough substance here for this to be a great read.
Miss Renshaw is painted with a broad brush – part naïve idealist, part passive-aggressive bully. I’d have liked to see more of her relationship with Morgan (who is similarly broad brush) and I didn’t like the open-ended conclusion to what happened to her but there was enough to get a sense of who she was and Dubosarsky does well at showing what a terrible judge of character she is. Where Dubosarsky also does well is in showing the splits among the girls as they deal with what happened to her and what to tell the suspicious authorities.
Dubosarsky has a wry narrative voice, which takes you through the story in an entertaining way but there just isn’t enough of it and as such it’s a perfectly okay novel but not a great one.
The Verdict:
Ursula Dubosarsky’s literary YA novella is a slim but beautifully written coming-of-age piece set against the backdrop of the Vietnam War. Characterisation is sparing, with Cubby and Icara getting the most page time but I enjoyed the slow reveal of Icara’s home life and the shifting dynamics between the classmates. Unfortunately this is a very thin novel and although the Vietnam War’s supposed to be the backdrop there’s little real sense of it or its impact and the time jump to 1975 was too jarring while the resolution felt a little tacked on. Ultimately, it’s an okay read and I would check out Dubosarsky’s other work but there isn’t enough substance here for this to be a great read.
THE GOLDEN DAY was released in the United Kingdom on 6th August 2013. Thanks to Walker Books for the free copy of this book.
The Vietnam War rages overseas, but back at home in a year that begins with the hanging of one man and ends with the drowning of another, eleven schoolgirls embrace their own chilling history when their teacher abruptly goes missing on a field trip. Who was the mysterious poet they met in the garden? What actually happened that day? And most important, who can they tell about it?
In beautifully crafted prose that shimmers and fades, Ursula Dubosarsky reveals how a single shared experience can alter the course of young lives forever. Part gripping thriller, part ethereal tale of innocence lost, The Golden Day is a poignant study of fear and friendship, and of what it takes to come of age with courage.
It’s 1967 in Australia. There are 11 girls in Cubby’s class, which is taught by Miss Renshaw, a former actress who likes to take the girls out of school to the nearby gardens to see Morgan, a draft dodger and poet. The girls think that Miss Renshaw fancies Morgan – Georgina even saw them kissing. Miss Renshaw tells the girls that they can’t tell anyone about their trips to see Morgan – it’s their secret. This is why none of the class will tell the truth about what happened the day Miss Renshaw and Morgan took them to the sea caves – the day that Miss Renshaw disappeared.
Seen through Cubby’s eyes, the girls try to make sense of what happened that day just as Cubby begins to assess her friendship with best friend Icara in a coming-of-age story set against the backdrop of Australia’s participation in the Vietnam war …
Ursula Dubosarsky’s literary YA novella is a slim but beautifully written coming-of-age piece set against the backdrop of the Vietnam War. Characterisation is sparing, with Cubby and Icara getting the most page time but I enjoyed the slow reveal of Icara’s home life and the shifting dynamics between the classmates. Unfortunately this is a very thin novel and although the Vietnam War’s supposed to be the backdrop there’s little real sense of it or its impact and the time jump to 1975 was too jarring while the resolution felt a little tacked on. Ultimately, it’s an okay read and I would check out Dubosarsky’s other work but there isn’t enough substance here for this to be a great read.
Miss Renshaw is painted with a broad brush – part naïve idealist, part passive-aggressive bully. I’d have liked to see more of her relationship with Morgan (who is similarly broad brush) and I didn’t like the open-ended conclusion to what happened to her but there was enough to get a sense of who she was and Dubosarsky does well at showing what a terrible judge of character she is. Where Dubosarsky also does well is in showing the splits among the girls as they deal with what happened to her and what to tell the suspicious authorities.
Dubosarsky has a wry narrative voice, which takes you through the story in an entertaining way but there just isn’t enough of it and as such it’s a perfectly okay novel but not a great one.
The Verdict:
Ursula Dubosarsky’s literary YA novella is a slim but beautifully written coming-of-age piece set against the backdrop of the Vietnam War. Characterisation is sparing, with Cubby and Icara getting the most page time but I enjoyed the slow reveal of Icara’s home life and the shifting dynamics between the classmates. Unfortunately this is a very thin novel and although the Vietnam War’s supposed to be the backdrop there’s little real sense of it or its impact and the time jump to 1975 was too jarring while the resolution felt a little tacked on. Ultimately, it’s an okay read and I would check out Dubosarsky’s other work but there isn’t enough substance here for this to be a great read.
THE GOLDEN DAY was released in the United Kingdom on 6th August 2013. Thanks to Walker Books for the free copy of this book.
