‘Into White Silence’ is supposedly a historical novel based around the story of an Antarctic voyage by the Polar vessel, Raven, in 1922. The Raven is to go on an expedition, the aim of which is to map and explore parts of the Antarctic continent that are still unknown in 1922. This book features excerpts from the diary of Lieutenant William Downes, one of the leaders of the expedition. These diary portions are interspersed with comments from the narrator of the story.

From the very beginning, there is a sense of foreboding about this expedition. Most of this is initially because of the personality of the leader of the expedition, Edward Bourke. He appears to be volatile, mysterious and unreliable. He gathers around him a motley crew of men; some appear admirable, but some have dubious pasts and scant qualifications for a journey, which in its day was highly dangerous. Much is made of the fact that explorers on similar trips had died and the expeditions ended in disaster.

Into this highly charged atmosphere comes our protagonist William Downes; a man of courage and loyalty, who is a highly decorated war hero. His story is told as the voice of reason and moral rectitude. Downes also has a sense of foreboding about the expedition, which he tries to suppress, as he is given a tour of the vessel Raven as it waits in the port of Hobart. The Raven, like its name, is black and unwieldy. It sits low in the water like a malevolent beast, with none of the lightness and elegance of the ships around it.

As the story develops, our perceptions change about the expedition, the protagonist and the narrator. We realise that this is not a story from history at all, but a construct of the narrator. The narrator is perceived as increasingly unreliable and morally ambiguous. Even our hero is seen as somewhat less worthy than we thought. We begin to see him as so obtuse and lacking in flexibility and imagination, that his observations become unreliable also. The story becomes more and more disturbing and uncomfortable as the expedition descends into disaster.

Comparisons with Joseph Conrad’s ‘Heart of Darkness’ are clear, where the ship’s journey into the heart of Africa becomes a journey into hell. As the vessel gets closer and closer to Antarctica, things become blacker and more terrible. Men begin to die or get murdered. The expedition leader, Rourke, descends into madness, dragging everyone on the ship with him. References to another great and terrible sea journey, Moby Dick, with the famous Captain Ahab, are obvious. Finally, the Raven becomes hopelessly stuck in the ice of Antarctica and the ship turns into a floating coffin.

It is problematic deciding the audience for this book. The writing is somewhat slow-moving and ponderous. The action takes a very long time to get going, and can be dry reading. I sense that most young adult readers would not persist with it, and adults will find it a strange and unsettling read.

However, this said, it remains in the mind long after it is read, and brings to life the cold and forbidding world of Antarctica.

(Review by Jane Crew)

‘Kill the possum’ is a novel that, in Moloney’s own words, is “not for the fainthearted”.  It is a hard-hitting realistic novel that deals with some tough issues: sexual and emotional abuse, violence and revenge.  Moloney is an author that has in the past looked at relationship difficulties in families, such as parental desertion in ‘A Bridge to Wiseman’s Cove’, cultural and racial prejudice in the ‘Dougy’ trilogy and family breakdown in ‘Lost Property’.

However, this novel is the most confronting of all his novels as it deals with family violence and the hard moral questions that arise from this.  Three teenagers are the main protagonists of ‘Kill the possum’: Dylan, whose father left when he was very young, and Kirsty and Tim, who have an abusive father.

Dylan has always liked Kirsty, a girl from his school, from afar.  He gets up his courage at the beginning of the story to go round and visit her at her home.  Unfortunately, he walks into a shocking situation and witnesses the abuse by Kirsty’s father first hand.  Kirsty’s father is on his fortnightly access visit, and he always takes the opportunity to emotionally abuse and intimidate his wife and two older children.  Though this time he does no physical violence, the emotional scars are just as damaging.

Tim, as a young teenage boy, is much smaller and slighter than his Dad, and feels intimidated, and helpless to protect his sister and mother.  These things cause Tim to stutter, binge drink, self harm and truant from school.  At the same time, a ball of hatred and anger is building up inside him, threatening to break out in violence.  Kirsty deals with the abuse by compartmentalising and pushing the bad feelings aside, allowing her to attempt to live a “normal” happy life with her friends at school.  Their mum collapses emotionally, taking to her bed and leaving Kirsty to run the house and family.

Dylan walks into all of this and immediately feels drawn in to their nightmare world.  He feels responsible to help them, especially when he learns the justice system won’t.  He develops a close but separate relationship with Kirsty and Tim.  Dylan and Tim begin to plan to murder Tim’s father, Cartwright.  Dylan feels this is the only thing to do before Tim or his Mum attempt suicide.

The title of the book, ‘Kill the possum’ comes into play when Dylan and Tim practice on a possum they have caught in their roof.  If they can bring themselves to kill the possum, maybe they will have the courage to kill Cartwright.  A shocking scene of violence unfolds when they attempt this.

The book moves swiftly to an extremely confronting conclusion and raises moral questions such as: ‘Is the killing of one person to save others justified in some circumstances?’ and, ‘Is it right to lie in court to protect others?’

Moloney has written a very important book in ‘Kill the possum’.  The characters are portrayed insightfully and the scenes of violence and abuse are frighteningly vivid and uncomfortable.  It will be appreciated by young adults who enjoy realistic fiction, but it will also be useful for all the moral issues it raises for discussion.  It is highly recommended. – Jane Crew