'Morality Tale for Mallrangers.'

Review of Garry Disher's Moondyne Kate (Hodder, 2001)

"Moondyne Kate", a novel for young adults, allows author Garry Disher to explore the nature of rebellion by asking the question, "when does teenage anger become a source of criminality rather than identity?" Disher's hero is in the background of this unusually effective story. Moondyne Kate is a faraway figure who we only learn about through the remnant of her 1860s diary. She is a poor and orphaned young woman, who is caught up with the bushranging legends of Captain Kydd and Gus Whistler, and tells us of the limits of cruelty and the surprising presence of kindness in both colonial and contemporary Australia. In the foreground of this story is the modern day struggle of teenager Nat Whistler, hopeful descendent of the colonial fighter for freedom, Gus. Nat finds himself caught up with an older wild man, trader Sean Kidd, would-be descendent of the legendary bushranger and local keeper of the larrikin tradition. Sean helps Nat with his school project about the past as well as his yearning for identity and family-friendship. He also gives Nat an outlet for his resentment of the local police, his parents and authority in general. By reaching back to the mythology of the past, Nat lives out a desire for a living legend and a modern myth. What he receives, though, is unsettling and startling. He comes across one of Sean Kidd's other proteges, Bronwen, who is also fighting her own demons of unrecognised suffering. The result is burglary and mayhem, as the bushranging legend is distorted into resentment and exploitation.

Disher takes a simple premise and leads the reader to a piercing (almost jolting) conclusion, carving a morality tale out of the cliff-face of the 1860s and the precipice of the present. As an amateur historian, I appreciated the way in which the author picks up the alluring threads of connection to the past and reveals how a story can be twisted into propaganda to suit the purposes of malevolent recruitment. "Moondyne Kate" reveals once again Disher's deft ability to handle historical themes and timeless truths.