How to be a Revolutionary by Lucy Ann Unwin
We have a brilliant blog from author Lucy Ann Unwin all about her book, How to be a Revolutionary! It will certainly make you pause to consider your family circumstances.
Growing up I was utterly obsessed with Disney’s version of The Little Mermaid. If you’d asked me then what I loved about it I would have undoubtably said the songs or maybe Sebastian or that magnificent red hair or the beautiful lagoon scene under the weeping willow (I was strangely obsessed with weeping willows for a child). But as an adult, I realise there was something else that kept bringing me back too: the rage of Ariel’s father Triton. Triton’s explosive temper tantrums were familiar to me from my own father, but it wasn’t just seeing them reflected on screen that was important, it was also seeing him regret them in private, the tender moments Ariel didn’t see. It was as rare then as it feels now to see the reflection of imperfect, yet forgivable, parents.
I know the parents in How To Be A Revolutionary will have many adult readers shouting at the page, but presenting a complicated family dynamic is important to me. Young readers need books where the parent’s aren’t just conveniently absent, downright awful or cookie cutter perfect. They need to see complicated relationships reflected on the page, parents that are flawed but loved, and quite possibly very familiar.
In the book, my main character Natalie is inspired by the adults who have made her house a campaign HQ during a general election. One of them tells her they’re trying to change the world and Natalie wants in: but while she’s determined to change the wider world through her own mini “revolution” she’s struggling to accept the changes happening at home. Her parents are separating and her Dad’s new girlfriend and her son are moving in. Her parents do not manage this transition very well at all. Communication is poor, Natalie’s mum is struggling and her dad’s distraction and desperate optimism that Natalie and her sister will just fall in with the new arrangement borders on negligent. But her parents love her and they mean well, they just judge things badly and make mistakes, as every parent sometimes does.
What I loved while writing How To Be A Revolutionary is that the parents’ failings allowed other characters to shine. Left to look after each other, Natalie and her little sister Lily have a beautifully tender relationship. As the elder by four years, Natalie takes her responsibility for her little sister seriously, and it grounds some of the more impulsive sides to her personality. Lily, meanwhile, cares for her big sister in other ways: their relationship is the true heart of the book. Their dad’s girlfriend Kali also has an important role to play. The way she prepares her own son for the transition to their newly blended family provides a refreshing alternative to Natalie’s dad’s careless bumbling, and her tentative and fragile connection to Natalie and Lily ups the dramatic stakes.
Real families very rarely fit the standard molds and real relationships are complex. Children understand that as well as anybody, and are probably much readier than adults to forgive their parents’ own unique forms of dysfunction. I hope in reading How To Be A Revolutionary they might see that they’re not alone in that wonderful compassion. Or they can just enjoy it for the rat babies and Christmas Fayre chaos, as I enjoyed The Little Mermaid’s weeping willows and songs.
Views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the Federation.
