Pip hates being at home as her mother’s boyfriend, Matt, is controlling and easily angered; her mum is scared, and the house is no fun. Instead, Pip spends her time outdoors, in the creek and the waterhole. She used to share the time with her friend, Mika, but he’s gone now, so she passes the time alone. That is until she finds a baby dragon and smuggles it home to save it from dying. But can she save the dragon and can she also save herself and her mum from the life they are living?
I know that Karen’s first book, Lenny’s Book of Everything, isn’t widely talked about on Twitter (it really should be, and if you haven’t read it yet, I highly recommend you do!) but it’s a book that stayed with me long after I’d finished reading it (the characters still pop up in my mind from time to time), so I was both excited and intrigued to see what Karen would do with her next book.
There are books that I read that demand to be devoured in one sitting such is the pace and excitement, and then there are books that beg to be savoured, to be read slowly so as to take in every little nuance and emotion the book throws at you. Dragon Skin most definitely falls into the latter category, and I relished every moment and every word.
The book is beautifully written and is a gentle yet powerful read. The pace reflects long hot sunny days in Australia where children have endless time on their hands (although there are times when Pip is in school). There is no definite period of time given but I imagined it being set in the 1970s (perhaps that’s because it’s when I was a child so remember having endless summer days to while away!).
The plot is a thought-provoking one and I found myself contemplating the characters between reads! The book is set in a small mining town where every house is identical, everybody knows each other, and the men go out drinking at the end of the day. Pip’s life is a complex one: we know that her home life is difficult and that her mum is suffering domestic abuse (much of this is inferred, but Matt’s drinking, controlling behaviour and short temper; not to mention Pip’s mum’s behaviour, strongly suggest emotional if not physical abuse). We also know that Pip is missing her best-friend, Mika, who has gone away – we just don’t know where. As a result, this is a young lady who is lonely and troubled. She is desperate for things to change in her life and so the dragon’s timing is perfect. She names him Little Fella and he becomes the focus of all of her attention (a welcome distraction from everything else in her life) and gives a purpose to her days. She forms a bond with the dragon in more ways than one and I can’t help but feel that the cut she receives and the subsequent feelings she has with her skin are a metaphor for the constraints she is living under and the shackles her life has her in.
Dragon Skin is a book that made me breathe out every time I picked it up; I felt the beauty of the writing relax me as I read and Pip and Little Fella crept under my skin and made me want to hug them. Pip develops an inner strength that isn’t overtly obvious but which is truly remarkable and I shall forever wonder what has happened to her after the end of the book.
Dragon Skin is food for the soul and a book that brought a tear to my eye and filled my heart at the end.
Published on the 28th October, I highly urge you to spend some time in Australia with Pip and Little Fella. I promise that your life will be just that little bit better for it.
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