Violence from innocence

Press, 30 August 1980, Page 17

Violence from innocence

Fortress. By Gabrielle Lord. Aurora Press, 1980. 143 pp. $15.95. ... William Golding made his reputation from his portrayal, in “Lord of the Flies,” of the savagery of children who reverted to something like a “state of nature” when they were left without adults to survive on a lonely island. “Fortress” invites comparison. Here 12 children, aged between five and 15, are forced to be cruel and cunning by the savagery of a group of kidnappers. Gabrielle Lord gives the story an extra twist by the presence of a young woman schoolteacher who begins by trying to comfort the children and ends up being sustained by them as an equal. The setting is the Australian outback today and Miss Lord has captured the flavour of a vast and indifferent countryside. To this she has added the resourcefulness and stamina of country children, contrasting their attempts to be fair and decent with the brutal emptiness of the kidnappers from the city. She seems at times to be equating the weakness of women, when confronted with ruthless men, with the inherent weakness of all children when confronted with adults. Occasionally her story falters and becomes a tract, an appeal to women to stand up against male domination. But for most of' her tense and thrilling tale she writes with splendid detachment and economy. “Fortress” has a universal message — that eventually the good and the weak have to stand up to bullying if they ■ are to survive. Once those who are weak find the resolution to defend

themselves, their revenge is likely to be harsh and striking. In its portrayal of the violence _ lying beneath innocence “Fortress” is one of the best Australian novels to appear in New Zealand for some time. — Naylor Hillary, \