Shadows in the Mirror

This Australian YA novel by Cameron Nunn focuses on the topical issue of bullying in a top boys’ boarding school. It’s written in the first person, and follows the story of one boy, David, joining the boarding house in Year Eleven and seeing bullying occur – not so much towards himself, but towards his room-mate, a scholarship boy from an Aboriginal background. The two boys discover that the bullying is not a recent occurrence – in fact, the current teachers and principal who all attended the school as boys were also involved in bullying. In the end, David has to decide whether to keep silent, as generations of boys have before him, or to speak out.

The reason this is interesting at all is, of course, the recent events at Trinity Grammar School, where boys were systematically beaten and raped by other boys, with the full knowledge of the school staff. Despite the massive media scandal which followed when some boys did speak out, the majority of the staff – including the principal – have stayed on, as has the majority of boys. That situation revealed a school-wide culture of accepted bullying which is probably not uncommon.

This novel could therefore have been very powerful and quite controversial. The mediocre writing style has prevented that, unfortunately, leading to this story being published by a small Australian press which means it will reach a limited audience. It has a good plot, but the characterisations are shallow and the dialogue unrealistic. There’s no real sense of place, either. Compare this with, say, Eleanor Spence’s “A Candle for St Anthony”, written years ago now but still powerful and extremely relevant – and far more subtle. Or “The Gathering” by Isobelle Carmody – that’s really terrifying. There’s a lot of books about bullying out there – I wonder how many are read at schools such as Trinity, however.