posted on 09 Oct 2022

Children of the Stone City by Beverley Naidoo

I admit to feeling a thrill when I received a review copy of a long-awaited new novel by this accomplished award-winning author. I have reviewed a couple of her other novels elsewhere (here and here) and so I knew I was in for a treat.

This is another story that explores the experiences of young people who have been forced into horrendous situations involving potential family separation and the wider effects of injustice. Twelve year old Adam and his younger sister Laila live as Nons, under the control of the Permitted, who are the ruling class in the Stone City. They have become used to being careful, obedient to authority and treasuring their always fragile home comforts. Their family circumstances are difficult because their mother comes from the wrong side of the city wall, which means that she has to apply for the right to remain in the Stone City every year. Their father is a highly respected archaeologist who has been imprisoned for two years during his younger life for his political views. Their close friend Zac is an extrovert who loves skateboarding around the narrow streets and is generally bolder with his activities. 

Adam and Laila are fortunate to be able to attend a music school where they learn to play the violin and flute to a high standard. Adam is particularly talented and inspired to play even better when his Grandmother gives him the precious violin that once belonged to his Grandfather. It is a beautiful instrument with an intricately carved horsehead ‘Little Jabari’ at the top to remind them that, in happier times, the family had once successfully bred horses.  But they had been forced to escape from persecution by the Permitteds with just three horses, one named Jabari, all laden with family possessions.  

Early in the story, his Dad suffers a fatal heart attack which means that the family is pitched into an even more precarious situation. Just a couple of streets away, Zac’s family have been evicted from their home which has been taken over by a Permitted family. Anger, grief and fear ripple through their lives, but the three young people try to carry on doing what they love. Adam makes a big decision to honour the memory of his father with a special musical performance, but all seems jeopardized when he is arrested because he was with Zac when he offended some Permitted boys. Adam’s brutal arrest in the middle of the night and his brief stay in detention at the mercy of the fierce police is shocking, particularly when a dead eyed, exhausted Zac eventually joins him in his cell and reveals the cruelty that he has endured.  

Widespread intimidation, wrongful arrest, torture, relentless interrogation, being forced to sign legal documents in a foreign language and threats are all experienced by young people just like Adam and Zac in the real world. Beverley Naidoo is committed to shine a light on this kind of injustice and has based this story on her conversations with young Palestinian readers during four visits to the Occupied Territories and Jordan spanning 2000- 2016. 

The pace of this alarming story is regularly slowed down by the inclusion of short poems that are written by Adam in his journal which was given to him by his uncle Elias who is an author. Another successful device is to focus on the power of remembered folk tales and stories about the Grandfather and his horses. And even in the most difficult times, there is always the welcome solace of mastering the violin and perfecting the performance of Vivaldi’s ‘Spring.’

Although there is no big happy ending to this thought-provoking novel, the weaving of music through the narrative leaves a positive feeling, which the author explains well:

‘Music doesn’t know Permitteds and Nons because it speaks to our hearts. Music leaps over and seeps through walls. Music cannot be confined. From the darkest dungeon, it can sing about the light beyond and the sky above us all. It offers hope.’

This is another well written and engaging novel that I hope will be read and enjoyed by children and adults everywhere.

Karen Argent

October 2022