‘The publicity for the book says it was inspired by the many inequalities that exist in our world, and for me the allegories with Palestine are clear.’ Photo: Book cover of Children of the Stone City, by Beverley Naidoo
Children of the Stone City, by Beverley Naidoo
Review by Sharen Green
Two young siblings use music to resist the authorities, who mistreat and oppress them. Little sister Leila plays Beethoven’s Ode to Joy on her flute, to let her brother know his family is in the overcrowded military court. There, handcuffed and shackled, he’s being led off to solitary confinement.
And that brother Adam uses his violin to draw the world’s attention to their mother’s plight – she is about to be deported under a harsh regime that tears families apart.
The violin is perhaps the third most important character in this novel. It was crafted by Uncle Josef – a ‘Permitted’ – and presented to Adam’s grandfather in the ‘Time Before’ when friendships between ‘Nons’ and ‘Permitteds’ were possible. Instead of the scroll, the instrument is topped with a beautifully-carved miniature horse’s head – Jabari – named after a real animal. When Adam plays, he feels he’s flying over a beautiful valley where his grandpa used to ride the real Jabari. He can escape from his fears for his cheeky friend – skateboarder Zak, who’s also run into trouble with the authorities.
The backdrop is a dystopian world of Permitteds and Nons, of the OverPower and the Time Before.
The publicity for the book says it was inspired by the many inequalities that exist in our world (its author was imprisoned for opposing apartheid in South Africa) and for me the allegories with Israel and occupied Palestine are clear. There, children are routinely arrested, blindfolded, cuffed and shackled. Sometimes they are tortured and often pressured, like Zak, into signing false confessions in a language they don’t understand.
Some Permitteds, however, such as Uncle Josef, resist the divisions. And there’s a feisty Permitted lawyer who fights for Non children. Her granddaughter and our two protagonists play together in a music school (there is just such a school in a real stone city).
This is a heartwarming story of the unbreakable bonds of family and friendship; courage in the face of fear; and creativity in the face of oppression. Be warned though, it’s not exactly a ‘happy ever after’ ending.
In a chilling author’s note, Naidoo, who is now based in Bournemouth, tells of her own experience: ‘My concerns… stem from being born in South Africa where I was classified as “Permitted”. My birth certificate states “Race: European”. Had I been born in Occupied Europe in 1943, with my Jewish mother, I would have been classified as a “Non”.’
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