Gisela Erwin-Ward, True South, MidnightSun Publishing, May 2025, 192 pp., RRP $19.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781922858597
Nell’s family and that of her neighbour, Charlie, have been at loggerheads for many years. The girls don’t really know why, only that it was something to do with their grandfathers. This means that, despite being in the same grade at school, the girls cannot be friends.
Nell and her friend Gemma sail together on the lake that dominates the country town where they live. This friendship is threatened, at least in Gemma’s eyes, by the fact that Nell is supposed to be going to boarding school the following year. Nell’s decision to purposely fail to scholarship exam, has unforeseen consequences for her and her family. They are not as wealthy as they seem; money is tight and it will be difficult to find the money to send Nell to St Helen’s without the scholarship.
As a friendship with Charlie develops, as they both want to unravel the mystery of the past, Gemma’s increasing jealousy hurts Nell and makes her realise that she does in fact want to go to boarding school. As the lake water recedes, it reveals more of the flooded house that once belonged to Nell’s grandparents. It is this house that holds the answer to the families’ feud. In the revelation of that answer, comes the idea that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. What is recovered from the house does not have monetary value, but has deep sentimental and historical value to Charlie’s family.
This is a story about friendship and tolerance; about starting afresh; starting at a new school; about aging and the need to take on the care of an aging relative and about family and loyalty. The title alludes to the sailing that is so much a part of the girls’ lives as well as to Nell’s surname. Her family, the Souths, has long been one of the most important in the district, a fact resented by some others in the town.
Each of the girls is quite strongly drawn as are the more peripheral characters such as Nell’s grandmother and Charlie’s brother. The lake itself becomes almost a character as it plays such an important part in the plot. This is both a mystery story and an adventure story for upper primary and lower secondary students.
Reviewed by Margot Hillel
