Books & Literature

Book Review: Tell the Truth, Shame the Devil, by Melina Marchetta

When a bus full of British students is bombed, disgraced Chief Inspector Bish Ortley is put on the case because of his connection with the suspected terrorist.

There’s a great sense of timeliness in Melina Marchetta’s excellent new novel, although the plethora of themes explored have been with us always: family, racism, death, terrorism, religion and belonging. In a world bombarded by the immediacy of the internet however, some of these themes do seem far more relevant today than ever before.

Tell the Truth, Shame the Devil is engrossing reading. Events are triggered when a bus full of British students is bombed. On board were the daughter of disgraced Chief Inspector Bish (Bashir) Ortley, and Violette LeBrac, the granddaughter of an infamous Middle Eastern terrorist and whose mother is currently serving a life sentence for her part in that same attack. Violette has been raised by relatives in Australia, away from the media attention and public hatred that is still aimed at her family, but she has returned to England under the radar to “tell the truth and shame the devil” – a quote taken from Shakespeare’s Henry IV.

tellthetruthshamethedevil200With some students dead and others badly injured in the attack, Bish is put on the case by the Home Secretary when it’s discovered that Violette and one other student fled the scene following the bombing. After his own part in the arrest of Violette’s mother all those years ago, Bish soon discovers that not everyone and everything is as he once thought.

Marchetta’s intricate characters drive the story forward almost as much as the plot itself. From Bashir’s struggle with alcohol, to Violette’s strong personality and her mother’s ongoing dignity despite being locked away. Most impressively, Marchetta’s teenagers are as complex as the adults in their thoughts, motivations and actions.

The story puts a spotlight on the politics of immigration, trial by media for the sake of a story, and asks pertinent questions from the flip side, such as: “How many years does one’s family have to be in this country not to be a foreigner?”

Marchetta is perhaps best known for her novel Looking for Alibrandi, which was made into a feature film. Her writing style is easy to read but her story and characters are complex and well realised. Tell the Truth, Shame the Devil is full of heart and soul, wrapped up in a violent mystery in a world ruled by fear and ignorance: where strangers beat up strangers because they look like they’re the same nationality; where the media creates a pack mentality of hatred in order to sell papers; where politicians find certain people or events ‘inconvenient”; and where a parent’s love will cross boundaries to save their child, no matter what their heritage.

This is top class writing, tackling current world issues in a deeply personal way and from both sides of events.

Reviewed by Rod Lewis
Twitter: @StrtegicRetweet

Rating out of 10:  9

Published by: Penguin Australia
Release Date: August 2016
RRP: $32.99 paperback, $12.99 eBook

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