WARNING> SPOILERS!!! (This post is really long, but PS was really strikingly haunting and beautiful) The Piper's Son by Melina Marchetta is a haunting novel about betrayal, family, death, life (young and old), relationships, respect, recovery and healing. Five years after the end of Saving Francesca, Thomas Mackee is the one who needs saving. Two years ago when his Uncle Joe died in an accident on a subway train in London, he left his group of friends, and the girl he loved, Tara Finke. Until, he breaks his elbow one night while a band is playing at a club. Suddenly, Francesca reenters his life, when she comes to pick him up from the hospital. Francesca is a history/music major who is learning how to play the guitar, sings perfectly, and is making dresses/beads with her grandmother. Oh, and she's still in love with that Will Trombel.
After his visit to the hospital, Thomas goes to live with his Aunt Georgie, who is pregnant and single. The father is her ex-boyfriend, who she was with for seven years. They've never really stopped being in love, but they broke up and Will had an affair--and a son, Callum. Thomas ends up hanging back with Francesca (not all of the characters from SF are in PS, however). His mother and sister, Annabel live up in Brisbane (novel is set in Sydney), because his father became an alcoholic and needed to get his life together. Thomas doesn't know where his father is, but one day, Dominic shows up. Thomas reconnects with his old friends and learns how to use the advice Joe gave him. Georgie and Sam come to terms with their past, the baby, and their future. Thomas has to figure out his feelings for Tara Finke, why he left her, and what he's going to do about it. It's ultimately a novel about reconnecting with people, letting them find you rather than you being lost, dealing past griefs, and fixing a broken family.
Nothing comes of Nothing. So we have to do something to fix the relationships we mess up. That's what Thomas learns.
Here's some quotes: (I liked these from GoodReads)
"Maybe she'd always been there. Maybe strangers enter your heart first and then you spent the rest of your life searching for them. ”
I’m scared I’m going to spend the rest of my life in a state of yearning, regardless of where I am.”
“Her voice whispering love soothes him. They'd never done that before. Weren't that type of family. Except now he doesn't know what kind of family they are. What word is it that can define them? What would they call his family in the textbooks? Broken? He comes from a broken home. The Mackees can't be put back together again. There are too many pieces of them missing.”
This book counts as part of the Aussie Reads Challenge I'm doing. I'm 2/6 done. Technically, I've read 3, but I haven't blogged about Saving Francesca. YET. I will do that...before November is over, definitely. Before October is over...possibly. (see also Finnikin of the Rock)
I love Melina Marchetta, yall; she is my favorite. Have a lovely weekend.
, Rachel, Just a Book Crazy Gal 