The Facts Speak for Themselves

‘Doomed by circumstance. Our fate was in the facts.’

Linda is taken into care when she witnesses the murder of her mother’s employer by her mother’s lover. The social worker assigned to the case writes:

‘The subject is female, age thirteen… She appears to be in good physical health… She is small for her age but sturdily built… Her periods are scanty and irregular…sexually active…repeatedly molested by her mother’s employer… No evidence of collusion on the mother’s part…evidently very distraught…’ (p.13) Do the facts speak for themselves? Linda doesn’t think so and insists on writing her own report of events.

The unfolding events seen from the 13-year-old’s perspective are shocking and challenging to dominant cultural values. Linda’s mother seeks approval by falling into serial relationships with unsuitable men; she fails to bond with her daughter and her parenting skills are non-existent. Linda shows greater self-reliance than any of the adults, caring for her two younger brothers and the elderly partner whom her mother abandons when he has a stroke and loses all of his money. When she can no longer carry the responsibility, Linda returns to her mother and embarks on the fateful sexual relationship with realtor, Jack Green.

The Facts Speak for Themselves is stylistically interesting. The viewpoint in this first-person novel is predominantly Linda’s; her conscious and subconscious thoughts are explored through shifting tenses. At one of the most significant moments when Linda recalls her first meeting with Jack the past events are retold through present tense dialogue: a reminiscence that lovers might have when sharing a romantic moment but at the same time a psychologically significant conversation with the dead man accused of being her abuser and whom, she insists, she ‘liked a lot’. But in spite of Linda’s apparent complicity in the loss of her virginity, the moment is not pleasurable and reveals her brittle suppression of emotion.

Many readers will find it disturbing to confront the issues in The Facts Speak for Themselves but the strength of Cole’s writing invites reassessment and fresh thinking on issues of adolescent sexuality and child abuse, avoiding heavy-handed didacticism. His style is accomplished and taut without sacrificing accessibility and in spite of the dark content the lighter touches of Linda’s ironic observations develop empathy for the central character. A thought provoking read for mature readers.