Melina Marchetta – Tell The Truth, Shame The Devil (Literature Review)

Melina Marchetta is arguably one of Australia’s best-loved authors, particularly in young adult fiction. If you were a teenage girl going through school in the late 90s/ early 00s, it’s likely that you read one of her books, either as assigned reading or because all your friends were recommending her work.

From the break out smash hit Looking For Alibrandi to Saving Francesca and On the Jellico Road, or even her more recent work, The Lumatere Chronicles, her books have been loved by many and earned her numerous highly prestigious publishing awards over the years.

While the success Marchetta has enjoyed as a YA author cannot be denied, her latest novel, Tell The Truth, Shame The Devil is a departure from the genre for which she is so well-known. As her first foray into adult fiction, Tell The Truth, Shame The Devil is an in depth look at the state of humanity as it is in today’s society, tugging at the reader’s conscious and making us question our own beliefs in a way that only Marchetta can.

The story follows Bish Ortley, a suspended detective turned drunkard divorcee who spends his days questioning his will to live and fighting a losing battle with his own self-esteem. Life is an alcohol-fuelled haze for Ortley, and to be honest, he’s comfortable with that – especially as it dulls the pain of his heartbreak.

But then Ortley gets a call from an old college friend saying his estranged daughter Bee has become a victim in an alleged terrorist attack in Europe, linking to a similar case he worked on many moons ago. Though he is not willing, nor in any condition to act, he is thrown into the case headfirst, leading the manhunt for the teenage accused, Violet Zidane, who has gone to ground with an alleged hostage.

While trying to restore his failing relationship with Bee, and uncover the truth of the attack, Ortley is forced to re-evaluate the toll his lifestyle has taken on those he loves and the professionalism with which he approaches his work. Boiled down, the only question that remains is this: has his last ditch attempt at living come too late?

Though I have enjoyed Marchetta’s work in the past, it wasn’t until The Lumatere Chronicles that I became more of a fan. Her writing is magnetic, keeping you hooked until the very end and often surprising from the story’s frequent twists and turns. The subject matter may be a little controversial given the world’s current state of events, but that for me is what makes this book so engaging.

Marchetta couldn’t have predicted the attacks in France when writing the book and even after they hit the news, she was determined to follow it through to publication, and that is admirable. The sensitivity with which she handles the horrific events that occur in the book, and the way she showcases humanity’s softer side is what makes this book work, and to be honest, keeps the reader coming back for more.

This may be Marchetta’s most adventurous novel to date, but past experience has shown that she is not one to shy away from topics of a sensitive nature, and venture in to genres she has not yet tackled. I, for one, hope this is one she sticks with as Tell The Truth, Shame The Devil, is further proof that Marchetta is a gifted and unique storyteller, regardless of her demographic.

[Editor/Author Note: This review was originally published by The Australia Times.]