Billabong Ghost is a great Halloween introduction to the Dreaming Billabong Series by Ryn Shell.
Dealing with a character’s back-story is a difficult thing for a writer. You need the reader to have insight into the character’s choices and attitudes, but you have to weave it through the narrative in a way that feels natural. There are several ways to do this. Some writers use a prologue to disclose the backstory. Others have current events in a story remind a character of something from his past. The character can experience a flashback in a dream sequence or a fit of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Some keep it simple and just have an omniscient narrator tell the reader snippets of the character’s past. All of these techniques come with hazards and risk loosing your reader unless you do them very well.
Ryn uses a different approach in Billabong Ghost. Instead of interrupting the story to give you the back-story, she tells two stories. One is the back-story, the other is the story’s real-time. She used a ghost (hallucination?) to pique my curiosity. While reading the story I found myself wondering, “how did the “ghost” die? Who killed her? Was it an accident? Why does she hate these people so much? The answers to those questions unfolded through the ghost’s narrative weaving in and out of the story, informing it, expanding it, and raising new questions to wonder about.
What it’s about:
Billabong Ghost is a novella telling the story of a lonely and neglected little boy befriended by a ghost who uses him to get “pay-back” on the people who betrayed her. Or maybe it’s the story of a mentally ill little boy trying to make sense of his world after being neglected by those he loves. Either way, you can’t help but root for little Harry even as you are horrified by him. I tend to embrace the mental illness theory. I find myself reading and wondering how living such a difficult life and experiencing such tragedy would affect a family with schizophrenia affecting different members in varying degrees. The “gift of fey” as they call it is more than it seems.
What is really lovely about the story, is that it is both a beautifully told ghost story and a dynamic family saga. Read it at your own risk. Billabong Ghost is the introduction into a series and it will suck you in just like Charlotte draws in Harry Fife-Mayer.
What wander-readers will love:
Billabong Ghost brings readers into a very vivid Australia. The writing is full of Australian idioms but Ryn makes sure the context is clear so a non-Australian understands what is meant. Though a glossary of Australian words is provided, I found I didn’t have to reference it more than once or twice. (Did you know a “Yabby is a small freshwater crayfish and a “Ute” is a utility truck or vehicle?)
She also describes the land and scenery visually, using the lay of the land in several plot points. Not surprising when you realize Ryn is not just an author, but an artist! She paints under the name Kathy Shell and brings her artist’s eye to her writing, literally. The Dreaming Billabong series features her artwork on the covers. This is especially apparent in scenes set in the Woggan-Wandong village. Which brings me to the next reason wander readers will love Billabong Ghost:
While the specifics of Ryn’s story are fictional, her manufactured events are accurately set within the context of Australian history and reflect Australian culture and attitudes over the generations. The role of women, their limited influence, choices and prospects affect the characters actions. Attitudes towards Aboriginal people and the double-standard that exists in societal expectations has a major impact on the story for generations.
Last but not least, wander-writers may want to follow Ryn Shell Author on Facebook! Her eyes and experience are a wonderful window into Australia and the writer’s process. She’s one of those few writers with an authentic local voice and without fear to share her discoveries, confusions, and realizations as she writes. Absolutely worth a “like”!
Read ~ Write ~ Wander
~Angie
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(Cover art designed by Ryn Shell and displayed under fair use.)