Whistling In The Dark by: Lesley Kagen

I’m always impressed when a writer captures the feel of a person far away from them. By that I mean a male author writing using a female voice as with Midwives or a British native perfectly capturing the characteristics of a Ukrainian as with A short history of Tractors in Ukrainian or an adult telling a story through the eyes of a child as with Whistling in the Dark. It’s quite something to go back to that childhood voice or thought process that has long since grown up and recapture all those mannerisms. Not too hard for me though as I am still a child at heart. My stretch marks, floppy breasts and hairy chin are a cover up… I love the Power Puff girls… Rock on Hannah Montana!

Whistling in the Dark’s biggest triumph is Sally O’Mally’s voice. Kagen captures this 10 year old’s spirit beautifully. It is through her eyes that the events of 1959 unfold. Although the events surround the abductions and killings of young girls, a subject anyone would find hard to dive into, Sally O’Mally takes us through this uncomfortable journey in an inoffensive way. Sally thinks she knows who the killer is and also believes that she is next…She however finds it very hard to convince anyone else. Through her willful need to unearth the truth, many other truths are exhumed, making this story not so much about the horrific killings but about a child who discovers herself.

This was not a “I won’t sleep until the last page is turned novel”. In fact, once read, I did not feel like reviewing it straight away. Screaming messages did not come to me, the ouija board did not spell anything out. But now, rested a while, I appreciate it a lot more. A 10 year old’s perspective will only ever be a ten year old’s perspective so if you welcome that you will welcome Whistling in the Dark. Because of this, Kagen has written a wonderful novel.

Sally O’Mally is like an ice cream sandwich. She is innocent and delicious yet stuck in the middle of an adult world that she has not yet seeped out of. Lick by lick you devour the novel until all that remains is a sticky sweet substance gummed to your fingers, that you can’t help but lick off as well. This was Kagen’s first novel and with sticky hands I applaud her. Kagen found a voice, a good voice and stuck to it without fault. Whistling in the Dark’s success really depends if the reader is willing to listen to this voice as a mother would listen to her child, because If you enter on a high horse you may get bucked up the rear end. Kagen good luck to all the other writings you will bring us, this was a strong debut.

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