Pros: strong-willed protagonist, well-drawn secondary characters, language evocative of time (1947) and place (South Carolina)
Cons: none
The Bottom Line: Well-written YA novel with well-drawn characters and pitch-perfect dialogue. Will appeal to teenage readers (13 & up ) as well as adults.
jc_hall's Full Review: Kezi Matthews - Scorpio's Child
14-year-old Afton’s dad is away in the merchant navy when strange Uncle Bailey comes to stay. Afton has never even heard of him, but then Mama’s not one to talk about her kin. But Afton is truly upset when Mama puts him in Francis’ room, even though Afton knows that her beloved older brother will never return from the war.
Uncle Bailey is strange and taciturn, and while neighbours assume he’s scarred from the war, Afton thinks it’s not that simple. His behaviour verges on the bizarre, but Mama simply won’t confide in Afton. What is the secret that Mama’s hiding about Uncle Bailey? Is he as sinister as he seems?
When the town strumpet is found dead, Afton recalls how she had seen the woman together with Uncle Bailey. Is he somehow connected with the woman’s death? How could Afton possibly live in the same house with a man who terrifies her? She can’t even talk to Mama about it, since Mama so obviously dotes on Uncle Bailey.
But as Afton’s best friend Deenie, a budding astrologer, tells her, Afton is Scorpio’s Child, stubborn and intuitive, and a natural detective to boot. Perhaps Afton will find out the truth about Uncle Bailey and all the kin that Mama never talks about. Perhaps she can even overcome this barrier that has developed over the years between Mama and herself.
The author, Kezi Matthews, has crafted a little gem of a novel, with strong characterization and pitch-perfect dialogue that’s strongly evocative of the time and place. The secondary characters are wonderfully drawn, from Afton’s Mama to budding astrologer Deenie, to hoity-toity Jo Helen, an older girl briefly courted by John Howard (the boy whom Afton’s set her eyes on). Then there’s busy-body Mrs Hudson and her daughter Arlene, and the little waif, Pearl Ann, who will break your heart.
While the ‘mystery’ of Uncle Bailey may be an incentive for the young reader to keep reading, the author’s craft is good enough to keep this reader interested from page to page. The story is much more than a mystery. It is the inner growth of a young girl who’s coming to terms with losing her brother, missing her absent father, and dealing with a mother who’s emotionally distant.
While the mystery does get resolved eventually, the story itself culminates in Afton’s abrupt realization that her mother’s love for Uncle Bailey is the same as that of Afton’s for her own brother Francis. That was a moment of epiphany, when Afton was able to put herself in her mother’s shoes and identify with her, like she had not been able to before. The ending is very moving, and leads the reader to hope for a more open and honest relationship between mother and daughter.
Scorpio’s Child is a well-crafted story that is aimed at teenage readers, but deserves much wider appeal. Kezi Matthews is also the author of John Riley’s Daughter. I shall be on the lookout for this other novel.
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