Not That Kind of Hero

18-year-old Orla has always positioned herself as a sidekick, helpmeet and reliable support with no desire to step into the spotlight and a determination to suppress her own practical and emotional needs. A repeatedly and increasingly violent father meant that her family had to flee to the protection of a women’s hostel and ensure that their whereabouts remained unknown. When her mother found a friend there in Raim, the two women combined families and moved in together. Casale paints a warm and convincing picture of the inevitable chaos generated by a household of 4 adults and 6 children under 12- wonderfully known as The Brood – where each character and conversation rings true. She adeptly avoids sentimentality in a ménage where life is never uncomplicated, but support is always at hand.

Roks, Orla’s ‘semi-sib’ has been accepted on a university course but her delight is peppered with guilt that Orla does not get an opportunity to similarly fulfil herself, since she is needed to manage The Brood while their mothers work. Eventually Orla reluctantly agrees to audition for a two-week intensive theatre course which Roks has found and thinks she will enjoy. When she is accepted, her anxieties are slowly dissipated by the realisation that she can continue to support others rather than place herself centre stage.

The course students are not as adeptly created as those in the combined families. It is dangerously easy to let over privileged young people, immersed in drama schools and clubs from early childhood, drift into stereotypes and Pandora, in particular, is two-dimensional. Others, initially taking Pandora’s lead, are dismissive of Orla, yet crave her advice and eventually-and perhaps rather too conveniently-friendships are born.  The budding relationship between Orla and Cassian is well-realised and convincingly paced. Initially seeming shallow and rather too aware of his extremely good looks he emerges as a young man with his own insecurities who, nevertheless, gains Orla’s trust as she finally tells him about her father.

Casale gives young adult readers touchstones for the problems which beset and bewilder them. In this age of invidious social media perfection she makes it clear that life is a messy affair and things do not always end well. What she also emphasises, however, is that there is no approved route to happiness and personal fulfilment and the joy and relief found when pursuing your own path is the truest measure of a rich inner life.