The Leaves
by
Jacqueline Rule
Publication date: 1st May 2024
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Pages: 176
RRP: AU$26.95 (paperback0
Source: Courtesy of the publisher
Review: The Leaves
Thank you to Spinifex Press for sending me this unforgettable debut novel; The Leaves by Jacqueline Rule.
Faith and Evelyn are close friends, neighbours, and single mothers of Luke and Mitch - and both bear the scars of trauma of the stolen generations. When Faith dies unexpectedly, a chain of events unfolds that will forever alter the lives of those left behind.
The Leaves follows the life of Luke and the events that pull this, much loved, little boy away from his heritage and into a spiral of cruelty in the broken social welfare system as he goes from foster care to being homeless then to a youth detention centre. By the age of 15 Luke has been in 18 different foster homes whilst all this time his mother's best friend Evelyn has been denied care. Evelyn never gives up the fight until Luke is completely lost to her in the system.
Jacqueline Rule's writing is evocative and poetic. Beautiful in its execution, devastating in its content. Much of the novel is written in poetry.
Luke is not just one boy but an embodiment of hundreds of boys and girls being failed by the system.
Even though The Leaves is small at 176 pages it had a massive impact on me. Luke's story is one that will stay with me forever.
My rating 5 / 5 💔💔💔💔💔
Whilst working at a legal organisation Jacqueline Rule became aware of the frequent interrelation between the foster system, homelessness and imprisonment. She hopes The Leaves might play a small role in advocating for a more empathetic and humane approach to how our society reforms young offenders.
The Leaves can be purchased from Spinifex Press: https://www.spinifexpress.com.au/shop/p/9781922964021
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