Suzy Zail, Inkflower, Walker Books Australia, July 2023, 384 pp., RRP $22.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781760653736
Remembering must feel like walking on broken glass.
Lisa Keller’s life is about to change forever. She’s dealing with the usual concerns of a Year 10 high school student: hanging out with her friends, keeping a low profile and experiencing first love. Then her father is diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease and given six months to live. And before he dies, he wants to share his story with his family.
Lisa’s father, Emil, is a Holocaust survivor, something he has never spoken about since he left Europe for a new life in Australia. As his illness progresses, he gathers his family together each Friday night to reveal more of the horrors he endured as a young Jewish boy in war-torn Czechoslovakia.
Chapters alternate between ‘Now’ which tells Lisa’s story, and ‘Then’, telling Emil’s. Lisa’s family is close, and together with her two older brothers and her mother, they rally to surround her father with love and a safe cocoon to tell his life story. It is refreshing to read a YA book where the family is close and loving.
Lisa has never revealed to her friends that she is Jewish, and she finds it almost impossible to reveal this to them now, let alone draw attention to herself by revealing her father’s terminal illness. She doesn’t want everyone seeing through my skin to my breaking heart. She can listen to other people’s sad stories for hours; she’s okay with uncomfortable as long as it’s someone else’s uncomfortable, but she cannot bear the thought of revealing her troubles with her friends.
As Emil’s health deteriorates, and more of his harrowing story is revealed, Lisa learns that keeping secrets is destructive, and that accepting help is not a weakness.
Zail has skilfully used a contemporary narrative (it’s set in 1982) to explore the horrors of the Holocaust. She doesn’t shy away from the brutality that Lisa’s father saw and experienced first-hand, but it is never gratuitous. As fewer and fewer Survivors are left, it is essential that their stories are never forgotten, in the hope that history will not repeat itself. Emil’s story is based on Zail’s own father’s experiences.
Lists of further reading about the Holocaust and Motor Neurone Disease are included. As Holocaust education is now compulsory in most Australian State Schools, Inkflower would make a perfect addition to reading lists. Walker books provide many resources for teachers and librarians.
For a bit of fun, there is also a link to a Spotify playlist of Lisa’s favourite 1980s hits.
Inkflower is challenging, but also inspiring and ultimately, full of hope. I highly recommend it for ages 14+.
Reviewed by Gaby Meares
