For a writer best known for exploring the dark side of life, Sonya Hartnett's latest novel, The Ghost's Child , is something of a departure.
This exquisite fable begins in the present, where an elderly lady, Matilda, returns home, only to be met by a young boy who may or may not be a ghost. Over a pot of tea, Matilda tells him the story of her life and how, as a young girl, she developed an all-consuming love for a mysterious and wayward boy whom she meets on the beach, known simply as Feather.
Growing up at the turn of the century, when women were expected to marry and settle calmly into domestic life, Matilda—better known as Maddy – throws caution to the wind by living an unfettered life with this man who loves the ocean and animals. While Maddy and Feather are both outsiders, their love for one another is not balanced and, quite simply, Feather is a person who cannot be tied down, and longs only to be free.
Feather's disappearance plagues Maddy until, one day, she decides to track him down. Here, more than anywhere else, is where the novel becomes fantasy and Ms Hartnett proves that she can tackle the genre deftly. Guided by sea animals and the wind, Maddy's journey takes on elements like that seen in The Alchemist.
But The Ghost's Child is not entirely make-believe. Tracing the later life of Maddy, now Matilda, who goes to work as a doctor during the war, it is also a novel that is filled with great wisdom and Ms Hartnett instils knowledge in her readers. For example, she writes: "There's so much that is sublime in the world, but it is splendour that should not be compared. Each beautiful thing is supremely, absolutely beautiful. There's nothing that is lovelier than everything else combined."
This glittering writing, coupled with evocative imagery and metaphors makes reading the book a positive and uplifting experience for audiences of any age, who are unlikely not to be charmed by a tale which proves that love really is the most important thing.
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