The Bone Sparrow

Content Warning: This section contains depictions of human suffering and violence towards and the murder of children, as well as discussions of self-harm, the death of a parent, and death by suicide. It depicts life in detention centers, the persecution of immigrants, and the persecution of Muslims, particularly the Rohingya. Refugee experiences, and associated depictions of displacement and trauma, are described. It also engages in negative stereotypes of people with missing eyes.

Subhi is the main protagonist and first-person narrator of the novel. At nine years old, Subhi has never seen the outside world as he was born inside the razor-wire fencing of an immigration detention facility in Australia. Despite the bleak conditions in which he and his family live, Subhi maintains a sense of optimism the other characters lack, and he uses his imagination to escape the grim reality of forced incarceration. At the beginning of the novel, the reader sees the horrors of the camp through Subhi’s naïve perspective. His creativity and childlike nature allow him to see beauty even in the direst of situations. However, as the novel progresses and Subhi forms relationships that shift his perspective, the reader witnesses his gradual loss of innocence as he realizes the reality of his situation.