I don't know the work of Vincenzo Perrella and Dan Osborn in
their other spheres of film/television/live performance but I'd certainly like
to see some of it. I don't dwell on plot details if I can help it and
realistically, this one is so convoluted and intricate, I'd have no hope of
putting much of it in a review but I'm going to try to give you an oversight.
Imagine an isolated uninhabited island far from any other
kind of land or humankind.
Next, imagine that island was literally stumbled upon by the survivors of a shipwreck.
Then, imagine that one of that party, Hamilton
Forbes-Hamilton, saw the potential for transforming himself from a nobody loser
into the most powerful frog in a small pond.
With rat cunning and the power of persuasion used on the
uneducated and scared remaining survivors [much like DJT really] Forbes-Hamilton
established himself as a supreme leader and initiated a closed society that fed
upon fear, restriction and the overweening power of the mystery being of the
sea, Old Bertie - a fearsome giant squid 'proved' to take people and devour
them.
Now generations later, 15-year-old George Jones has had
enough. She's had it up to the eyebrows with everything about and on the island
in fact. Her mother was devoured by Old Bertie (assumed), leaving George a
social pariah and her father slightly unhinged**, an emotional wreck and also
ostracised, even bullied, by other islanders. **NB: (though he may well have
been inclined that way in any case).
George is ferociously bright, unlike the rest of the
islanders, and also defiant. She alone is rebellious enough to go towards the
forbidden shore, always searching for the way 'out' and wondering what truly
happened to her mother, who sailed away never to return.
When a stranger is washed up on the shore and George rescues
him, she unwittingly sets in motion a chain of events that will turn the
island's uneventful, unimagination and unprotesting usual way of life into
near-chaos.
If a stranger can 'escape' the dread maw of Old Bertie,
there's reason to hope that her mother did also. In the bombastic,
larger-than-life Fernandez - a classic con artist - George sees her way for
escape. If only she can persuade him - and if only she can abandon her father.
There is SO much more than this but trust me, it's worth
investing your time. At around 400 pages and a complex, albeit entertaining,
read it would be a challenge for many students and while there are excellent
resources available, I'm not so sure that many schools would take it up as a
class novel for their mid-senior students.
As my super-bright Year 9 student, Emily, said 'Miss,
there's some very sketchy language in this' (Road to Winter, our class novel -
please note, we were both fine with this - she was just surprised) but that
doesn't preclude it from being a set read, as we know. I just feel that most
schools would lean towards more 'regular' dystopia. But this is such a great
new and fresh look at the genre, that promoting it will reap great benefits.
There would be many students who love this genre and would definitely be able to unpack the layers beyond the satirical humour and caricatures. Underneath that veneer of hilarity and quirky characters are important discussion points around authoritianism, control and subjugation, identity, individuality, trust, family and grief. And I can most certainly see this as a great option for readers circles or your book club group - the discussions would be fast and frenetic! I loved it and took my time reading it over 3 nights as there was a lot to absorb and ponder.
Title: Old Bertie
Author: Perrella & Osborne
Publisher: Fremantle Press, $24.99
Publication Date: August 2026
Format: Paperback
ISBN:9781760996390
For ages: 14+
Type: Fiction
