Whalesong

Aberdeen has always been reserved—keeping her feelings locked inside. Her best friend Vera is more outspoken, passionate about a host of causes from Indigenous rights to climate change. But when Vera leaves Hobart with her parents to sail for a year, Aberdeen is left without her ‘voice’ and will need to learn to speak for herself. 

When her father gifts her an antique chronometer and a scrimshaw pendant of whalebone (which was passed down in her mother’s family), she starts seeing a strange girl on the streets of Hobart. Then she slips into a time long before her own. 

In this time, whalers travel the waterways of Tasmania, and the worst among them—Captain Kelly—has the town of Hobart clenched in his cruel fist. 

Aberdeen finds out more about this younger Hobart from her new friend Betty, who tells her that the whales brought her back to the past to do something about the horrors being perpetrated in this time. Together, Aberdeen and Betty must find a way to stop Kelly and change the course of history. 

Kidnapped by Kelly’s henchmen, Aberdeen and Betty use their knowledge of his fears against him: he once saw what he calls an “echo” of a woman from another time who told him that he would lose the better part of his achievements—and that this loss would be precipitated by the appearance of an otherworldly girl. Aberdeen opens the chronometer and the sound of whalesong fills the room. As he hears it, Kelly is struck with guilt. 

Back in her own time, Aberdeen finds the world is changed. Her friend, who is actually her ancestor and linked to her through the scrimshaw pendant, rose to prominence in Kelly’s stead and her impact has improved the environment, the culture and the history of our world. Able to see the mark that one person’s actions—her actions—can leave on the world when working with others, Aberdeen finds the confidence and faith in herself to become the voice for change she has always wanted to be.  

This timeslip adventure engages with historical events in a way that encourages readers to take action in the present. Integrating themes of activism and responsibility with Aberdeen’s journey towards self-confidence, the narrative acknowledges the overwhelming weight of climate concerns and the difficulty of actually knowing what to do when faced with so many different issues. It gently emphasises that you can’t do everything, but you can focus on the cause you are most passionate about and make a difference there.

Throughout, snippets of songs and poetry add authenticity and weight to the well-researched setting, while the dreamlike prose and beautiful descriptions transport sreaders to another time. Overall, this is a beautiful and powerful book. 

historical, timeslip, Australian history, Tasmania, whaling, activism, climate change, conservation, fatherhood, legacy, family

 This timeslip adventure foregrounds the voices of whales killed by whalers through an old chronometer. Aberdeen is able to change the past by making their voices heard. Captain Kelly is highly superstitious due to a warning he received from an echo of another time (p. 131), though elements of this speak to a self-fulfilling prophecy, as Kelly is only vanquished by the weight of his own actions.