Billie King by Shannon Kelly-White – Our Review

Our Review… Shannon Kelly-White’s debut novel, Billy King, has been promoted as a cross between Trent Dalton’s Boy Swallows Universe and Rosalie Ham’s The Dressmaker, but the comparison doesn’t do justice to the sparkling new voice she brings to the literary cum commercial fiction space. Billy King is a glorious romp through 1930’s rural Australia in which the titular character, a whip smart 12 year-old, goes on the run from the Welfare who are threatening to remove her from the care of her debt-ridden alcoholic father. In her quest to uncover the truth about her mother Anna’s mysterious disappearance, Billy joins forces with the feared Lady Bushranger, Dulcie James, who she suspects is somehow connected to Anna. As Dulcie slowly takes Billy under her wing, teaching her to shoot, revealing her hideouts and inducting her into life on the run in the bush, the two are drawn together by their determination to learn the truth about Anna – and by their love of horses. Billy is a consummate rider and her horse, Goose, is the closest thing she has to a friend, while Dulcie’s mount, Blackie has been with her since the beginning of her bushranging career. Told through three different points of view – Billy, Dulcie and Anna – the reader is taken on a wild adventure as Billy peels back the layers of her small country town to reveal secrets about her mother, her complicated and damaged father, the local priest and the ruthless debt collector making their lives a misery. This is a beautifully written page turner that is a delight from beginning to end. At its heart is the character of Billy, who we are rooting for throughout, as she overcomes obstacle after obstacle to discover the truth about her mother. Billy King is an extraordinary debut from a writer to watch. Review by Mark Smith