Description
A novel about love and the things you can and can't change, from the winner of the Victorian Premier's Literary Award for young adult fiction.
Nella closed her hand in the pocket of her dress, and she felt the feather against her fingers. 'I want to tell you something,' she said, and it did not matter that there was no reply. 'I want to tell you that he's coming home. . . and it's going to be like it was before he went away, before everything broke apart.' Nella waits for the swallows by the creek each spring.
It's a secret vigil she's followed ever since her father left.
This year she's going to take him with her . . . but can we ever return to the way things were?
Review
Nella’s life had turned upside down when her similarly minded nature loving father had left the family home years earlier.
But just as the swallows annually returned to their nest at a nearby creek, Nella was sure things could always return for the better.
But then he has a heart-attack and when Nella visits his house on Phillip Island to await his return from hospital, she realises that things do change. They could change back to better times, but they do move on.
How will Nella be able to fit into his new life? Will she return to her depressed, pill filled mother and cold brother?
Whimsically written, this hope for the future, coming of age novel will be most appreciated by girls 12-15.
Reviewed by Rob
