Review: When the Lyrebird Calls

Time-slip novels for young adults seem to be all the rage, particularly with Australian writers. It is a tradition started by our wonderful Ruth Park with Playing Beattie Bow and she set a very high benchmark. Belinda Murrell has written some cracking good books in this genre, and now we have Kim Kane entering the field.
My issues with this book I feel come from being an adult reading a YA novel, so I’m hoping that the intended audience will not be put off by them.
I feel Kane is trying too hard to make a point, or two, about our Australian past: there is the Aboriginal servant wanting to return “home”; a suffragette Aunt fighting for the vote for women; use of racist terms such as ‘half-caste’ and ’native’. I kept feeling Kane has too many messages that she is trying to convey about how far we have come since Federation. It felt a bit like a sermon to me.
However, as an adventure about a modern-day girl being transported to a time where she had to behave in a certain way, (including wearing corsets) it’s a great read.
I hope younger readers will get lost in the story, and, unintentionally, learn about our past, and appreciate how far we have come in just over 100 years.

• Review
• Kim Kane