Genre Mashup: The 'band' put together by the three groups consists of two guitarists, a DJ and a violinist. It works. Somehow. There is a real Jellicoe Road in New South Wales, Australia. It’s a street located in the suburb of Homebush West, which is about 15 km west of the central business district of Sydney. Jellicoe Road in the novel is a rural road located in the Australian countryside, while the real Jellicoe Road is a suburban street located in Sydney city. The name of the road in the novel was inspired by the real Jellicoe Road in Sydney, but the two locations are otherwise unrelated. The Iron Duke was the work of the architect Arthur W Ecclestone, who designed a number of pubs both before and after the Second World War. I'm going to end this review here for two reasons: 1) I believe this is the type of book that should be experienced first hand, without much knowledge of the story going in. So, go read it and remember, the beginning is confusing, but plow through it and I promise you won't regret it; 2) I'm tearing up thinking about this story and its characters, so all you'll be getting from me is the aforesaid and this: I love this book and I'm anticipating the day when I can read it again. I highly recommend Jellicoe Road to everyone.

The plot of Jellicoe Road hinges on two storylines—one set in the present day of the early 2000s and one in the late 1980s. The story is made suspenseful by the presence of a serial child kidnapper and murderer operating in the area. she created powerfully three-dimensional characters that i cared about and hated to close the book on. truly - it has been a while since i have fought sleep. i love sleep - i neeeed sleep. but i forced myself awake to keep reading this, and when i finally had to give in, it was with the deepest resentment. And it's not like there's some blatant, profound message here that's changed my life. It's not like I hadn't already started to pin the pieces of the puzzle early on for myself. It's the sheer beauty and mastery with which Miss Marchetta constructs this tiny little world and its complex characters who don't feel like characters at all because that's how deep in you are. It's that constant air of enigma and enchantment, that underlying presence of hope mixed with tragedy that draws you in so very thoroughly; all presented without the need for tasteless dramatics, maudlin behavior or overattention to romance. It was finished in 1948, with its counters made out of teak from Admiral Jellicoe’s flagship, HMS Iron Duke, which led the British fleet in the Battle of Jutland.

On the Jellicoe Road is a beautifully written, emotionally intense story that kept me up late into the night. I was completely captivated by the complex characters and the intricate, interconnected plot. Goodreads reviewer Where Can I Get My Copy? I spent hours trying to figure out who the characters were and what the hell was going on. The transitions between characters and time frames was not always obvious, making matters even worse. I must have been hours into the story before I figured out that there were actually two stories playing out -- one in the present and one in the past. Needless to say, I lost a lot of time being utterly confused and unaware of what was going on. I think quite possibly my absolute favorite thing that Marchetta does is the character reversal. She introduces a character which we view in a terrible light because the main character views them in a terrible light, and then she completely changes our mind about them in a subtle and realistic way throughout the book until finally we and the main character are in love. She did this in SAVING FRANCESCA and she pulled it off again in JELLICOE ROAD even though I was watching for it. By the time we get the first kiss in the novel, I was sort of clapping embarrassingly like a seal. A mesmerizing and ultimately uplifting story about the fierce loyalty of friendship and the power of forgiveness. Publishers Weekly I think the important themes of the novel: loss, identity, and the past really emphasize the connection that can be made with young adults. These themes are present in both Taylor’s story and Hannah’s manuscript. I believe this novel does an extremely well job of describing how children respond to loss and rejection of a parent. Taylor and the children of the boarding school are all too familiar of this kind of loss just as the five children in Hannah’s manuscript are. Inresponse to this abandonment, they band together forming their own family units; while struggling with difficult questions and longing for answers. For instance, Taylor is put in the difficult position of being in charge of her House while trying to dealing with the emptiness of her mom’s absence. She finds solace in her friends Raffela, Ben, and eventually Chaz and Jonah too. All these themes go hand in hand as Taylor is struggling to figure out who she is because she has dealt with tremendous trauma and loss that she has suppressed and been suppressing for many years. While uncovering her past is a painful journey, it is the truth about her past that sets her free from all the pain she has been causing herself. Understanding her past and learning the circumstances of the loss she has endured, Taylor is better fit to understand who she is, where she comes from, and who she wants to be.

Running parallel to Taylor's story is the story that Hannah writes, about the five kids in the 1980s. As Hannah has not yet compiled it, the story is shown in pieces throughout the novel with her handwriting. In the American editions, it is shown with those chapters printed in a different font, while original edition shows Hannah's chapters in italics. Taylor is tormented by the grief and uncertainty of her abandonment and keeps herself emotionally distant from others. She has few memories of her childhood, but when her history starts presenting itself she begins a relentless quest for answers. Interrupted Suicide: Though Taylor didn't realize it at the time, she was this to Jonah. She was also the reason Tate's slow suicide took seventeen years instead of happening immediately. Subverted with Fitz, aka the Hermit, who Taylor had to witness die. Tate and the rest of the group also may have interrupted Hannah's attempt. Luke, I Am Your Father: It's played straight with Taylor, who finds out who her dad is the boy in the picture and her aunt is Hannah. This is played with for Jessa; Taylor (a third party) finds out her father is the Hermit late in the story, but its unclear if Jessa connects her dad to the person who killed himself. Social Services Does Not Exist: Apparently nobody noticed that Jonah's father was abusing his family to the point that his son ended up killing him because there was no way out.This is Marchetta's most sophisticated novel; it opens cryptically and is imbued with subtle mystery that crisply unfolds in uncluttered, evocative prose ... The Australian I do plan to re-read this in the future, because I have some lingering questions. I'm sure they were answered along the way and I just didn't catch it. I definitely won't be listening to the audiobook on my second attempt. This story will require my full attention.

Meanwhile, the war is heating up. The leader of the Cadets is Jonah Griggs, with whom Taylor has a history. When she was fourteen, she escaped from the boarding school and went in search of her mother. On the way, she met Jonah, who had just accidentally killed his abusive father. The teenagers hitchhiked with a postman: the novel hints that this postman was a serial killer. In the night, Jonah dreamed that they would die if they continued, and he phoned the school. Taylor regards this as a betrayal, and she never wants to speak to Jonah again. Matters become even more complicated when the leader of the Townies, Chaz Santangelo, tells Taylor that he can help her to find out the truth about her parents. Despite being incomplete, the Iron Duke opened in 1940 to serve the soldiers manning anti-aircraft guns on North Denes.The incredibly good looking Italian/Aboriginal leader of the Townies (townsfolk of Jellicoe), Chaz is the son of the Chief of Police, Sal and the Mayor, Clara. He is the eldest child and only son, with four younger female siblings - Mary, Elisha, Tilly and Sarah Santangelo who often drive him insane. He's a sentimental, wise and fair person, who eventually becomes good friends with Taylor and Jonah, and continues to have a highly complicated relationship with Raffy, his childhood friend and complicated love interest. They both attended Jellicoe Primary school, where they were obviously close. Raffy and Chaz's families are also very close, with him once breaking into the school because Raffy's mother left her teacher's chronicle there.

This story is told in alternating perspectives set in both past and present which, at first, seem entirely unrelated. But as the mysteries of this plot unravel, they begin to show hints of their glorious connection. Options for a new use could include as a pub, a community space, conversion into homes, holiday lets, or a combination of several taking in a study of the town, trends, and footfall. There’s 17-year-old Taylor Markham who is a senior attending a boarding school on Jellicoe Road. This boarding school is no ordinary boarding school, as it is a school specifically meant for children who have been abandoned by their parents and families. Taylor ended up at Jellicoe after her mother left her at a 7/11 when she was eleven. Every autumn a territory war is waged between the students, the “townies” of Jellicoe, and the cadets of a military school in Sydney. The cadets set up camp near the school every September as part of their outdoor training. Taylor being the student who has lived in Jellicoe the longest becomes the elected leader of the school during the war. Chaz Santangelo, son of the police chief, is the leader of the townies, and the cadets are led by Jonah Griggs.Taylor's character is difficult to imagine. The memories of her past have changed the person she is today. Most of the time she is lost in her own world, but she is prone to depression, anxiety, asthma and being unfriendly towards others. She has no idea who her father is and her only memory of him is standing on his shoulders and reaching for the sky. Taylor's appearance describes her as being tall for her age with light brown hair and blue/green eyes. Only Ben Cassidy, Taylor's sort of nerdy friend who heads up one of the houses, stands up for Taylor, securing her the position. There Are No Therapists: Taylor didn't seem to get any after her childhood, or witnessing the Hermit kill himself in front of her. Averted in that it's mentioned several times Jonah went to therapy. A statement said: "Earlier last week we wrote to residents of Jellicoe Road and Fremantle Road as part of a preliminary consultation concerning the proposed installation of some small sections of double yellow line waiting restrictions on the western end of Jellicoe Road, in addition to waiting restrictions already in place and the proposed introduction of a new 7.5 ton weight limit on Fremantle Road to prevent unnecessary access of large vehicles not suited to this residential street.