A Jewish writer’s Indigenous ‘everyboy’

Jacqueline Rule has a way with words. She writes lightly, simply, but far from simplistically. Her cosmopolitan life so far, her academic studies in law and literature, her curiosity and empathy, all underpin her view of the world and her expression of it. Her conversation is the same, despite the depths we navigate.

Rule’s first novel, The Leaves, is beyond moving. The recently-published book traces the brief, tragic and historically significant life of Luke, a young boy who loses his mother. Little is made of his Indigeneity, except a passing reference at the very beginning, which makes the reader forget the colonial lesson the pages are soaked in and makes Luke an everyman – or “everyboy” – whose experiences go straight to the heart, unfiltered.

“I think it has some important things to say,” Rule says, diffidently. She admits that it is deceptively simple and that its constant change of register, not only in tone but visually, on the page, makes it important for the reader to pay attention. “It does demand a close read. But I'm hoping, certainly from the responses that I've had, that readers get into the language of the book quite quickly, that they enter the world and they stay.”

Some of the motifs are beautiful, especially the botanical ones. Cascading jacaranda flowers, their petals and their freshly budding leaves, are present throughout. So are buildings which start out magical and turn out not to be bleak. Some things may be surprisingly positive, like the companionship among the homeless in a city camp that provides food and protection at night.