This a superb novel which has won this year's Vogel prize. Jason is a young teen living in the inner eastern suburbs of Melbourne. It's 1985 and his greatest joy and meaning in life is football. His Mother is bringing him up on her own. She works incredibly hard as a nurse and Jason has to cope with a lot of time on his own. Jason wants to play football and his Mother, Christine, is not happy about that, but she is persuaded by another parent to let him play, but he must wear a helmet.
Jason is a gifted and committed player and football gives him a status and confidence among his peers. But this doesn't translate into a better relationship with his Mother. By year 11 Jason has dropped out of school and is doing dope and booze and hanging with graffiti gangs. With the help of a few football mentors he manages to keep things together enough to attract interest from the Hawthorn under 19 squad. A difficult adolescence seems to have been survived until a clash with his Mother uncovers shocking events from the past and Jason's world falls apart. To bring things back together Jason must discover more about himself and his family's past.
Written in a simple but evocative style that moves the story along with suspense, intrigue and poignancy, Eleven Seasons is the best footy novel for many years. Hawthorn fans in particular will love the many references to the great Hawks players and moments of the 1980s and early 1990s, including a description of Chris Langford's very muscular but lean action man physique as ''mesmerising".
Jason is a gifted and committed player and football gives him a status and confidence among his peers. But this doesn't translate into a better relationship with his Mother. By year 11 Jason has dropped out of school and is doing dope and booze and hanging with graffiti gangs. With the help of a few football mentors he manages to keep things together enough to attract interest from the Hawthorn under 19 squad. A difficult adolescence seems to have been survived until a clash with his Mother uncovers shocking events from the past and Jason's world falls apart. To bring things back together Jason must discover more about himself and his family's past.
Written in a simple but evocative style that moves the story along with suspense, intrigue and poignancy, Eleven Seasons is the best footy novel for many years. Hawthorn fans in particular will love the many references to the great Hawks players and moments of the 1980s and early 1990s, including a description of Chris Langford's very muscular but lean action man physique as ''mesmerising".
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