Name: Strange Objects
ISBN: 9781863301138

Gary Crew

Trying to solve the mystery of a 1629 shipwreck, teenager Steven Messenger disappears without a trace.

Strange Objects

Amanda Wells

Inspired by a readathon doing the rounds to revisit childhood favourites, I picked up Strange Objects, and was immediately reminded, more than anything, of the feelings I had when reading this book about 20 years ago. The excitement of a mystery, the dark imagery, the dark history, and the seemingly paranormal happenings - I felt an almost delicious nostalgia for the first time I read and become engrossed with this novel.

The first time around I became fascinated by the story of Batavia, and I think it is one of the key influences on my fascination with history, and historical 'detective' work. The second time around, I'm an adult with a degree in history, and I still find the story of Batavia so interesting. This time around, I was able to pick up on the way the book introduces primary sources - presenting the idea of piecing together a story for yourself from multiple sources, for a young audience. 

I probably didn't find the ending very satisfying the first time I read it - and I'm sure many young readers would be frustrated at the unanswered questions and suggestions that are made within the book. But reading it now, I can really appreciate the way this book reflects the subjective nature of stories. We will inevitably never know the whole truth, because the truth looks different depending on where you stand. Further, you can never know the whole truth of mysteries from the past; you can never know what happened to abandoned sailors on the coast of Australia in the 17th century, and you can never know what happened in Aboriginal communities hundreds or thousands of years ago. You can guess though, based on evidence. Just that you'll never know the entirety of it.

I also now enjoy the introduction of the unreliable narrator. In the midst of the story, you aren't quite sure what to make of Messenger's experience of events, and you certainly aren't supposed to agree wholeheartedly with a lot of his decisions. Later on, of course, you are introduced to the idea that his perspective may be even more unreliable than previously suspected.

There is so much to this book! 
Of course, I cringed a bit in reference to 'Abos', and the stereotypes of Aboriginal people all being deros, drunks, and generally not worth very much in the scheme of things. That is couched, however, in the perspective of someone who we come to know as not a very good person; and the respect that is given to Charlie in other contexts seems to go some way to mitigate these not so nice remarks and assumptions.

All in all, I think this book stood up really well, and I really enjoyed re-reading it.