The ghost at the point by Charlotte Calder
Walker Books Australia, 2012. ISBN 1 921977 73 3
(Ages: 9+) Recommended. Australian historical novel. Sorrie lives
with her grandfather at the point near Jasper's Cove on the island
just a few miles from the mainland. Since the Depression Gah has
left his job in the town to fish for a living, and he hopes to save
enough money to buy Dorrie some new shoes. While walking the streets
selling their fish one evening, a pair of tourists stop them asking
questions about Gah's sister's stories about a treasure buried on
the island. Gah is dismissive and walks off home but Dorrie is
intrigued and wants to ask further questions. On her return she
spots the image of a boy about her age in the trees along the road
and so becomes more intrigued with her aunt's stories about a ghost
in the house.
The point has seen many wrecks and one night a small steamer is
hurled on the rocks with four bodies found the next morning. The
next time Dorrie sees him, she realises that this is no ghost, but a
boy, and trying to speak to him, finds he has no English. But Gah is
in hospital so the two find themselves surviving in the house alone.
Things hot up when intruders invade their solitary lives.
This is a gentle, involving story of Dorrie and her grandfather
finding something more than they bargained for in their isolated
outpost. Linked firmly with the stormy seas, the remoteness of the
island and its inhabitants all create a tightly controlled setting
in which events such as these could credibly occur. Dorrie is an
inviting character, one whom readers will take to heart as she tries
to hide the boy and survive, hiding from the authorities and her
relatives when they come searching and later wards off the
intruders. An adventure story with heart.
Fran Knight