posted on 02 Aug 2018

Bone Talk by Candy Gourlay

Although Samkad lives with his father in a remote mountain village in the Philippines over one hundred years ago, he turns out to be rather like plenty of modern day boys the world over. As this fascinating story unfolds, he reveals himself to be a complex character who is often sensitive, sometimes opinionated, occasionally reckless and always fiercely loyal to his family, friends and tribe.

The first part of the book shows him playing with his lifelong girl companion, Luki, and the two clearly have a great friendship playing hilarious tricks and rollicking about their small but familiar home territory. So far they have enjoyed relative freedom in a community that doesn’t make too many demands of young children. Samkad feel safe, secure and cared for, even though there are plenty of dangers all around him, particularly the enemy Manglii tribe who are a constant threat. He knows his place in the world, one that is bounded with many rules and rituals in order to please the ancestral spirits. But he is growing up fast and knows that it is nearly time for him to move into the House of Men where he will be adorned with tattoos and given his own shield, spear and axe to fight with. He is at the same time thrilled and frightened by the prospect of ‘the Cut’ which is the first stage of his initiation. But when his father takes him to visit the Tree of Bones to sacrifice a chicken as a required preparation for the ritual, things don’t go quite to plan. As a result, the circumcision is postponed and we get to see Samkad simmering with anger and sulkiness because he is so frustrated at what has happened.   

Samkad’s mother had died in childbirth along with her close friend who also left a motherless boy, Kinyo. This child’s father was then killed by the Manglii and his aunt had taken him to live far away in the lowlands. After explaining what has happened at the Tree of Bones, the four ancients of the tribe examine the entrails of another sacrificed chicken and then insist that Samkad’s father must go on a quest to find Kinyo and bring him back to his soul brother.

Time passes and still his father does not return. Samkad is generally sullen and disappointed, but still manages to enjoy his unexpectedly prolonged childhood playing with Luki and a stray dog that has become his close companion. They don’t play all the time because they have to help out with designated chores and responsibilities, one of which includes minding babies whose mothers are working in the rice fields. This doesn’t stop Luki and Samkad from having adventures and one day they take two babies with them to spend a happy few hours in Second Best Valley. Once again, things don’t go to plan and after having a fight, then a frightening encounter with a Manglii boy, they make an escape carrying the crying and fractious babies through a long dark cave:

‘There was an explosion of flapping and a cloud of bats flew over our heads, so low we could feel the brush of their wings and smell their odour. The floor of the cave, damp and slimy by turns, sucked on the soles of my feet. Baby Baba had stopped wailing to gnaw on my shoulder. He was hungry’.

As they emerge from the cave into the forest they are surprised to come across a boy dressed in strange clothes who has fallen into a boar trap. It seems that he has been brought to the village by Samkad’s father who has travelled there with his aunt – Kinyo has returned! One of the impressive things about this novel is how the author manages to convey the awe and wonder of seeing unfamiliar things for the first time. So when Samkad stares in disbelief at the huge American man who has also travelled back with them we can share his fear:

‘Over its eyes hung eyebrows like a birds nest, yellow thick and tangled. Its nose was MASSIVE, speckled with orange spots, like the blemishes on overripe fruit. It had no lips….’  

Eventually Samkad tells everyone about the Manglii boy and because he realises that the whole village is probably in grave danger. The story continues to move along at a furious pace with plenty of enticing cliff hangers at the end of each chapter. The return of his father marks a big change in the tribe’s relationship with the outside world. He goes with others to search for the enemy and people get killed in gruesome ways. When more Americans arrive on the scene, Samkad realises that the mountain village where he has felt so safe isn’t quite as remote as he thought. The section of the story whish shows the patronising and exploitative attitudes of the invaders is very skilfully done.

Candy Gourlay is a Filippino author and the setting for the novel is based on the Phiippine-American War of 1899. She explains at the end of the book that her extensive research has shown very little evidence of ‘unfiltered Filipino voices telling our side of the story’, a gap that she wanted to address.

This short review can’t do justice to the impressive way in which this award winning author manages to embed big themes of war and colonialism into a memorable coming of age story. It gives a vivid picture of the beautiful natural world in which is it set with many descriptive passages about the distinctive flora and fauna. She also encourages the reader to reflect on why girls and women might not have been able to fully participate in decision making as well as pondering what exactly ‘manhood’ is all about. Most importantly, this is a compelling story with strong characters and plenty of exciting action that will be very much enjoyed by older children and young adult readers.   

 Karen Argent

August 2018