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image of person or book cover 1923066783790725956.jpg
Image courtesy of publisher's website.
y separately published work icon Little Gods single work   novel  
Issue Details: First known date: 2018... 2018 Little Gods
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'In the Mallee, wide flat scrubland in north-western Victoria, men are bred quiet, women stoic and the gothic is never far away. Olive Lovelock has just turned twelve. Olive is smart, fanciful and brave and on the cusp of something darker than the small world she has known her entire life. She knows that adults aren't very good at keeping secrets and makes it her mission to uncover as many as she can. When she learns that she once had a baby sister who died—a child unacknowledged by her family— she becomes convinced it was murder. Her obsession with the mystery and relentless quest to find out what happened have seismic repercussions. It is Olive herself who has the most to lose as the secrets she unearths multiply and take on complicated lives of their own.

'Little Gods is a novel about the mess of family, about vengeance and innocence lost. It explores resilience and girlhood, and questions how families live with their complexities and contradictions. Resonating with echoes of Australian classics like Seven Little Australians, Cloudstreet and Jasper Jones, Little Gods is told with similar idiosyncrasy, insight and style. Funny and heart-breaking, this is a rare and original novel about a remarkable girl who learns the hard way that the truth doesn't always set you free.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

Notes

  • Dedication: For my mother, Pamela Ackland.

  • Epigraph: Though she be but little, she is fierce.  - William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act 3, Scene 2

    Little Lamb, who made thee?

    Dost thou know who made thee...? -William Blake, 'The Lamb'

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Crows Nest, North Sydney - Lane Cove area, Sydney Northern Suburbs, Sydney, New South Wales,: Allen and Unwin , 2018 .
      image of person or book cover 1923066783790725956.jpg
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: 352p.
      Note/s:
      • Published April 2018.

      ISBN: 9781760297114

Other Formats

  • Also dyslexic edition
  • Large print.
  • Sound recording.

Works about this Work

Six Books that Shock, Delve Deeply and Destroy Pieties : Your Guide to the 2019 Stella Prize Shortlist Camilla Nelson , 2019 single work review
— Appears in: The Conversation , 8 April 2019;

— Review of Little Gods Jenny Ackland , 2018 single work novel ; The Bridge Enza Gandolfo , 2018 single work novel ; Pink Mountain on Locust Island Jamie Marina Lau , 2018 single work novel ; The Erratics Vicki Laveau-Harvie , 2018 single work autobiography ; Too Much Lip Melissa Lucashenko , 2018 single work novel ; Axiomatic Maria Tumarkin , 2018 single work prose
y separately published work icon [Review] Little Gods Astrid Edwards , Melbourne : Bad Producer Productions , 2018 14402185 2018 single work review
— Review of Little Gods Jenny Ackland , 2018 single work novel

'Jenny Ackland’s Little Gods explores questions of right and wrong, innocence and guilt, as well as justice, vengeance and atonement. It is a story of family, loyalty and loss.'(Introduction)

Jenny Ackland : Little Gods EA , 2018 single work essay
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 31 March - 6 April 2018;

'Melbourne-based writer Jenny Ackland’s debut novel The Secret Son(2015), a meditation on Gallipoli, was all about men. Her second book, Little Gods, is all about girls. In particular, girls growing up.' (Introduction)

y separately published work icon [Review] Little Gods Astrid Edwards , Melbourne : Bad Producer Productions , 2018 14402185 2018 single work review
— Review of Little Gods Jenny Ackland , 2018 single work novel

'Jenny Ackland’s Little Gods explores questions of right and wrong, innocence and guilt, as well as justice, vengeance and atonement. It is a story of family, loyalty and loss.'(Introduction)

Six Books that Shock, Delve Deeply and Destroy Pieties : Your Guide to the 2019 Stella Prize Shortlist Camilla Nelson , 2019 single work review
— Appears in: The Conversation , 8 April 2019;

— Review of Little Gods Jenny Ackland , 2018 single work novel ; The Bridge Enza Gandolfo , 2018 single work novel ; Pink Mountain on Locust Island Jamie Marina Lau , 2018 single work novel ; The Erratics Vicki Laveau-Harvie , 2018 single work autobiography ; Too Much Lip Melissa Lucashenko , 2018 single work novel ; Axiomatic Maria Tumarkin , 2018 single work prose
Jenny Ackland : Little Gods EA , 2018 single work essay
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 31 March - 6 April 2018;

'Melbourne-based writer Jenny Ackland’s debut novel The Secret Son(2015), a meditation on Gallipoli, was all about men. Her second book, Little Gods, is all about girls. In particular, girls growing up.' (Introduction)

Awards

Last amended 21 Aug 2019 11:37:18
Settings:
  • Mallee, North West Victoria, Victoria,
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