30 October 2014

Review #48: Little Exiles by Robert Dinsdale




My rating: 5 of 5 stars


“Everyone must come out of his Exile in his own way.”

---Martin Buber, an Austrian-born Jewish philosopher

Robert Dinsdale, one of my favorite English authors, has woven a spectacular tale about illegal immigration of little children to Australia with or without the consent of their guardians, in his book, Little Exiles .

Synopsis:
In Leeds in the year of 1948, a eight year old’s father doesn't return home, weeks later, that same boy is sent off to Chapeltown Boy’s Home of the Children’s Crusade by his mother and all the while the boy believed that it's just a short matter of time until he return backs to his own home with his mother and his twin elder sisters. But fate had stored something else for him. Two months later, that same boy along with his few friends that he managed to make in his two-months stay at the Children’s Crusade, are also on the same ship which is destined to reach the land of red-earth- Australia. Thus begins the story/journey of the little boy named Jon Heather, who happened to be forcefully sent off to an exile in an unknown land. He along with his friends, George and Pete, they fall, survive, and learn to accept their new lives in Australia. Read it to have a first-hand experience of a true, raw and very Kiwi tale which is packed with only adventures.


The author has researched extensively to pen down his tale and after reading this story, I can only say that he has done full justice to this deeply moving and very provoking tale. The author has investigated the whole illegal and forceful adoption of aboriginal kids brought in from the United Kingdom’s to Australia. And narrating the story from the eyes of these little kids will only fill your heart with anger and sympathy. These kids are made to believe that their parents are dead and hence they are sent off to Australia for a better future, whereas they are sent off to a boy's hostel where they are taught to be a farmer and sometimes are forcefully adopted into some Australian families. Jon Heather is a fictional character but he sounds very much like some kid's painful life-story. This fictional Jon Heather is the epitome of many real Jon Heathers who are estranged from their family and are never ever found by their parents.

The narration is perfect and very smooth, and from the very first page, I felt myself losing away into the core of the tale. The author has unfolded the whole journey of Jon and his friend's step-by-step and it mainly focuses on Jon's life, how a trauma can kill the whole opportunity for him to grow up as a man. It certainly left him with feeling of longing in his heart. The best vibe that I got from the book is that no matter what Jon never lost hope even for once to re-unite with his family. The characters apart from Jon can only make you love them more, especially Georgie Boy, the bed-wetter- his whole innocence about being naive to the whole situation of exile is quite heart-touching. Pete is another character to fall for, who is elder most in his group and he is the ultimate decision-maker. I’d like to hats off to the author for giving life to the story of a boy and his lost childhood with such brilliance. The plot is also packed with full of crazy adventures and some action scenes that will only make your adrenaline to rush.

Verdict: A compelling and enlightening book that will only touch your very soul and will make you see some hard-core truth behind those illegal immigration of little children and they are stripped away from their childhood.

Courtesy: Many many thanks to the author, Robert Dinsdale, for giving me the opportunity to read and review his incredible novel. 
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Author Info: 
Robert Dinsdale was born in Northallerton, North Yorkshire in 1981 and went on to study at the University of Leeds. In 2010, he spent four months in Australia researching the novel that would become LITTLE EXILES, which was published by Harper Collins in February 2013.
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