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Starred review in March 26, 2007 issue of Publishers Weekly
The Red Shoe
Sat against the backdrop of the Cold War,
Australian author Dubosarsky (Theodora's gift) eloquently conveys the
observations and memories of three sisters--the youngest, Matilda;
middle-child Frances, 11; and 15-year-old Elizabeth--living in
uncertain times. Growing up "in a house far away...deep in the brush,"
there are many things six-year-old Matilda doesn't understand: Why is
her father (a merchant marine) away so much of the time? Are the
mysterious men who moved into the house next door really spies? Why
doesn't her older sister, who suffered a "nervous breakdown," ever
want to go back to school? Answer to these and other questions quietly
emerge as pieces of a complex puzzle that the author artfully fits
together. The honest, poignant third-person narrative shifts among the
sisters, but focuses mostly on Matilda's point of view, and reveals
unsettling details about the family's history. Most specifically, the
book brings to light the instability of Matilda's father, a WWII
veteran, and the relationship between her mother and musician uncle.
Newspaper clippings from the Sydney Morning Herald that
appear intermittently between chapters give additional insight into an
era characterized by suspicion, tragedy and confusion.
Dubosarsky proves masterful in conjuring
and connecting images. The vision of a pair of red shoes, first
mentioned in a fairy tale read to Matilda by Frances (which opens the
novel), gains symbolic significance as the story unfolds and family
secrets come to light.
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