The Eye of the Sheep

I very much enjoyed The Eye of the Sheep by Sofie Laguna.  This book won the Miles Franklin Literary Award this year (2015).  The story is narrated by a young boy, Jimmy, living with his dysfunctional family.  Jimmy is "special" and it is mainly his mother, Paula, who can get through to him.  Jimmy is central to the story as he watches and reports to the reader how his life is.  The family is touched by violence as Jimmy's father drinks too much and beats his mother.  Despite this Jimmy maintains his "innocence" and continues to love his father.  Jimmy has an older brother who "escapes" to work on fishing boats.  It is a beautiful story, well told. 4/5