Trilby Kent – Stones for my Father

April 29th, 2011 by Sara

With the British invaders only on the horizon, Corlie Roux’s childhood is about to be turned upside down. With the Boer War still in full swing, Corlie, her stern mother and her younger siblings are all driven from their homes on the Transvaal, to an internment camp along with other Boer families. All the young girl has to sustain her through her ordeal at Kroonstad is her resilience and her devotion to her country…and a soldier from Canada with a few surprises up his sleeve.

Alright, I’ll admit it. Before reading this book, I had absolutely no idea what the Boer War entailed. Oh, I knew the name of course, but not any of the particulars. So instead of reading the book ‘blindly’ as it were, I decided to get some context for the setting and promptly found some information pertaining to the Boer War. After that, I settled down and read the book through in just three sittings…although if I had the time to spare, I would have sat down and finished it all in one go.

I have to say now that Stones for My Father is a wholly engrossing read. The characters and dialogue – whilst not always likeable – are very real. At some points I forgot that the protagonist, Corlie, wasn’t yet even a teenager, but that didn’t detract from the overall feel of the book.

Stylistically, the story was well written overall. At some places I felt as though the pace was a little too quick, with a few of the ‘scenes’ jumping around before I had the chance to settle and appreciate them. The imagery used however, was almost startling in places, and such visual descriptions only served to make the book that much more immersive.

I’m not entirely sure that I would class this as a ‘children’s book’ however. There’s nothing in the actual content which would be unsuitable for the ages of 12+, but I have to admit in places even I was struggling to grasp the meanings of some of the terms used. On one hand it shows that the author certainly did her homework, but I often felt that some of the phrases could have been explained to the reader. I certainly believe that Trilby Kent is a strong enough writer to have been able to pull off such explanations in a suitably subtle manner. This factor, along with some personal issues I had with the pacing, were the only two things which I felt marginally detracted from this otherwise brilliant read.

As an aside, I also couldn’t help but be impressed with the general appearance of the book, too. The quality and design of not only the dust jacket images, but also its text, was wonderful. Would I have bought this book if I had not received it in return for the above review? To be honest no, because it isn’t the sort of thing I would usually read. But you know what, dear reader? I would have missed out on a wonderfully immersive story and a great book to add to my ‘keep on the bookshelf’ collection.

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