Toni Jordan’s coming-of-age story is a work of fiction that draws on some of her own childhood experiences, and it shows. The prose sparkles with authenticity that induces nostalgic pleasure and almost painful clangs of recognition as the main character Andie Tanner stands on the precipice of adolescence.
A sensitive and highly intelligent 12-year-old, Andie is growing up in 1970s Queensland with her greyhounding training father, and her glamorous, short-tempered, bar-tending mother, Val. In Val Tanner, Toni has managed to capture a whirlwind in a jar. She’s a woman with a lot of energy and big dreams, but life hasn’t panned out like she hoped. She’s unhappy in her marriage and her daughter pays the price for her stifled ambitions. By contrast, Andie is bookish and observant. She loves to spend time under the house where the gentle greyhounds live, including her beloved Tippy.
Andie’s world is torn asunder by the sudden departure of her father. He was the one who knew how she liked her Weet-Bix. She longs to grow up to be a trainer just like him. Andie’s left with her fearsome mother who chain smokes and directs vinegary comments at her. Despite Val’s rough edges, she is no caricature. She is a fighter, who uses the best weapons at her disposal to secure herself in the world. Not long after Andie’s father disappears, Steve moves in. Andie is suspicious of him, and she has cause. But like so many things in this novel, he is more than he first appears to be.
Trouble is afoot at school, too, where Andie’s academic aptitude alienates the other students. Her intelligence, curiosity, and frustrations are exquisitely rendered. Andie is very perceptive, but her limited experience of the world means that the conclusions she draws are inevitably naïve. She acts on her misapprehensions to disastrous effect. The clash of Andie’s innocence and conviction drive the book’s tension that slowly but steadily builds throughout the narrative.
Toni has perfectly captured the era in all its vivid gaudiness and has packed the pages with tiny details that are instantly recognisable. As Andie bikes around the suburban streets unsupervised, you can feel the freedom she has, and the carefree attitudes of the time, even as Andie struggles – and rebels against – her own powerlessness.
The book is gently gripping. It’s hard to put down, yet it takes its time, allowing the reader to soak up every detail of the meticulously recreated 1970s suburbia. Tenderfoot is a reminder of what it is like to be a child, struggling to understand the world, as truth comes into focus.
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