Alison's Conviction - Thomas Keneally - ★★

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AUTHOR: Thomas Keneally
GENRE: Drama
SERIES: A Point in Time, #6
RATING: 2 stars.

In a Nutshell: A decent short story but not as impactful as it could have been.

Story Synopsis:
Alison Strange, a young autistic woman, receives a huge debt claim from the Australian government’s unemployment office. As she struggles to get her debt nullified, she is told just one thing: pay the debt.
Her supportive grandfather bolsters her spirits by telling her the story of one of their ancestors, a cobbler who was banished to Australia for his role in a political rebellion. Taking inspiration from this ancestor’s life, Alison too decides to stand up for her rights.


Plusses:
➕ The governmental apathy towards individual issues comes out excellently. For a change, the contemporary timeline was better.

➕ Learnt some interesting historical details about a few of the original Aussie settlers who were banished from England.

➕ The title has a dual meaning, creating a word play on ‘conviction.’ Both meanings suit the story well. That’s one clever title!

➕ Though Alison’s grandparents have only supportive roles, they are well-sketched and endearing.


Minuses:
❌ As a part of the ‘point in time’ series, this story also contains one pivotal plot point that changes the narrative for Alison, and that’s the story about her ancestor. The historical backstory has some good revelations about the English attitude towards criminals against the government. But the writing is so dry, almost like an infodump in a textbook. Moreover, the historical parts and the contemporary elements don’t blend in seamlessly. I never felt like I was reading a single story with two threads.

❌ XXXL-length paragraphs. In a short story!?!

❌ While I liked the Australian elements, I didn’t really get many of the terms and policies referred to. Maybe this won’t be a minus to an actual Australian.

❌ Not sure how I feel about the use of Alison’s autism in the story. While it appears genuine in portrayal, it feels too forced and even exaggerated in some scenes.

❌ The somewhat incomplete ending also spoiled my fun.


All in all, an okay read by the author of Schindler’s List. But this definitely didn’t stay in my head after I completed it, so no long-term impact.

This is the sixth standalone story in the ‘A Point in Time’ series, and is available for free to Amazon Prime subscribers.

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