I'm feeling kind of bad about this book. It seems as if it was loved by everyone who read it except for me. I found the writing a bit too flowery and effusive for my taste and the story much too depressing. I figured out the key element of the plot and only hoped that it would have happened sooner to end the book earlier.

Perhaps I was a bit disappointed with the story, too, because I'd been expecting it to give me more insight into the Aboriginal culture or at least more about the one Aboriginal character of Mary.

There is an act of violence at the beginning of the book that didn’t seem realistic to me. As I learned the true details of the situation, it seemed even less plausible.

None of the characters had any appeal for me. Perdita Keene, the protagonist and daughter of a loveless British couple, had absolutely no redeeming quality. She seemed swept along in the story like a jellyfish adrift in turbulent seas.

Normally I have an interest in literary characters with a mental illness. I had no interest in Stella Keene, Perdita’s mother. Was it because she manifested her illness in recitations of Shakespeare? Perhaps. I found that truly annoying, although I’m sure this was a high point for other readers. Oh, well. ( )

Sorry opens with 10-year-old Perdita Keene witnessing her father's brutal death. Perdita's parents (Stella and Nicholas) moved from England to the Australian outback as newlyweds; Nicholas was stationed there as an anthropologist, studying native Aboriginal people. They lived on a remote ranch belonging to the Trevor family. Nicholas was remote and unfeeling; Stella was mentally unstable. Perdita's education was provided by Stella, and centered almost exclusively on the works of Shakespeare. Perdita's only friends were the Trevor's deaf-mute son, Billy, and a teenage Aboriginal housekeeper named Mary. After the tragedy, Mary confessed to murder and was sent away to a reform school in Perth. Nicholas' murder was never discussed. Perdita repressed all memories, developed a stutter, and lost herself in books:
Because we were stranded together and because I stuttered, we read. there is no refuge so private, no asylum more sane. There is no facility of voices captured elsewhere so entire and so marvellous. My tongue was lumpish and fixed, but in reading, silent reading, there was a release, a flight, a wheeling off into the blue spaces of exclamatory experience, diffuse and improbable, gloriously homeless. All that was solid melted into air, all that was air reshaped, and gained plausibility. (p. 43)

In the years that followed, Stella was in and out of hospital for psychiatric treatment. The Trevors cared for Perdita, until events of World War II forced evacuation to Perth and the families separated. Stella and Perdita were forced to live on their own for the first time, and Perdita found herself an outcast in the local school. Slowly, and with the help of kind souls who shall go nameless so as to avoid spoilers, Perdita begins the process of piecing together her past and rebuilding her life.

The story itself is a compellingly good read. And it operates on a deeper level as well. In an author's note, Jones writes, "The word 'sorry' has dense and complicated meanings in Australia.' " She describes the historical context of Sorry Day and the Stolen Generation (http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.a...), in which indigenous Aboriginal children were removed from their families. Jones touched on issues of prejudice, separation and assimilation, and when she addressed the need for apology this novel suddenly struck me as hugely allegorical. This book combines rich characterizations with deep emotional impact -- always a winning combination for me. This is a beautiful, moving book. ( )

Jones is an Australian with a passionate, lyrical and poetic prose style - yet eminently readable and accessible. It is filled with such sadness at times, yet the story is ultimately a postive one, perhaps speaking to both the heightened sensitivity and resiliency of childhood. Quite beautiful - an emotional read. ( )

“Sorry” – five letters, two syllables, and maybe one of the hardest words to utter in the English language. And for the great nation of Australia, it’s an especially important word – one that many say, feel and think despite political issues. It’s an apology to the Aboriginal people for their years of mistreatment and prejudice, and the cornerstone of Gail Jones’s phenomenal book, Sorry.

Sorry was the story of young Perdita – a girl being raised by unfit parents who found solace and love with her Aboriginal nanny, Mary. Together with her friend, Billy, Perdita and Mary explored the bush, learned about native culture and found a sense of family that was stronger than any blood relation. When tragedy struck, their love proved even stronger, surviving the test of time and separation. I don’t want to give away too much but know that the plot was simple, moving and heart-warming. It reaffirmed that love has no boundaries or prejudice.

Jones wrote Sorry with such beautiful language – a wonderful tribute to her native country. Moreover, one cannot overlook the larger theme – an apology – that permeated throughout this story. Set in World War II, it not only explored the history of the treatment of Aboriginal people, it also shed light on how Australia dealt with the threat of Japanese invasion. From a historical standpoint, Sorry was insightful and educational.

I simply cannot rave enough about this book. I would highly recommend it to anyone who loves to read. That’s it – anyone (in fact, everyone) should read Sorry. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed with this touching story. ( )

I very moving story about a dysfunctional family in Australia in the 1940s. I loved the Shakespearean connections (one character's mental illness is characterized by her recitations of passages from the plays, and the main character's name, Perdit--The lost one--is fittingly drawn from The Winter's Tale.) It's a sad story, but not one without moments of light, and beautifully written. ( )