Tenderfoot

Tenderfoot is a poignant portrayal of Andie, a young girl growing up in Queensland in the 1970s. Based on Toni Jordan’s own childhood, it’s more personal than her previous books. It reads much like a memoir, with older Andie dipping in occasionally to speak directly to the reader with a life update on whether this dream or that piece of advice ever came to pass.

Andie is a beautifully drawn character shaped by true complexity from a young age. Her world is small – mapped out exclusively between her home, school and the dog track, which is her happy place. She loves her greyhounds with a passion and wants to live in their world and at the track forever. With no such thing as gentle parenting in her world, Andie tries to cope with the way she is parented – or not parented. Meanwhile, the greyhounds always take priority over her.

My heart was with Andie from the first page. Jordan’s depictions of her inner thoughts, the all-important school friendships and her incredibly strong will to battle through life’s harsh realities are very authentic. After her parents separate, Andie’s behaviour becomes more rebellious. As she tries to reunite them, we see her maturing: ‘I was an earnest girl looking for a trial to prove myself worthy.’

Tenderfoot is a gorgeous portrayal of a 1970s childhood in Queensland and an Australian childhood that will offer familiar glimpses into the past for every adult. Do we all find it hard to look back at ourselves and our actions as children? Do we all ask, Was that really me? Am I the same person now?

I devoured this book in a weekend. It reminded me that I, too, was a child of the ’70s with all the usual childhood preoccupations: I loved my Holly Hobbie bedspread and playing elastics in the school playground.