Review: The Best of Intentions by Gilbert Van Hoeydonck

A moving work of literary fiction, The Best of Intentions by Gilbert Van Hoeydonck illustrates the stark message of its title: the best of intentions are too often not enough.

Transplanted Melbourne social worker, Kurt Edelman, is hardly a typical Buddhist. With a penchant for cheap wine, leather jackets, and violent video games, he’s disillusioned and frustrated by the social system for which he works – a system that is for the most part understaffed, underfunded, and forces a high case load on its workers.

However, when young Kylee Watson, one of his former charges, jumps from the roof of her building, taking her six-year-old daughter with her, it affects Kurt deeply – so much so that he vows to do everything in his power not to let one of his new cases, sixteen-year-old Srecko “Gecko” Bosovic, fall through the cracks of an overburdened system.

Van Hoeydonck has chosen difficult subject matter about which to write his novel, yet it’s one he knows well, having worked in education, child protection, and public mental health, and this experience imbues the novel with authenticity and crucial urgency. The suffering of children, both young and old, through lack of attention or other circumstances is especially difficult to read, but Van Hoeydonck reins in maudlin sentimentality, letting the reader feel his story organically through a crisp narrative and effective pacing.

A wide cast of seemingly random characters form a strong backbone to the novel, from the brief, but heartbreaking circumstances surrounding the desperate Kylee and the childlike innocence of her adorable six-year-old daughter, to the surly attitude of young Gecko, and the stoic, yet determined Kurt. Their vulnerabilities and faults, so succinctly expressed, add dimension, heart, and a well of pathos to an already complex story.

Van Hoeydonck is expert at conveying mood and feeling through action: the simple act of sitting at a grimy picnic table shoved under a window, watching her hungry daughter eat a sausage encased inside a slice of bread, is all that is needed to feel a young woman’s desperation so seemingly insurmountable that the only option is to take both their lives. It’s a horrific choice borne out of a despair that is inconceivable to imagine, yet Van Hoeydonck manages to humanize a monstrous situation, infusing each character with depth and nuance. Choice words create mood and atmosphere, while the action is gripping in its own right, making the story a feast for the senses.

A vital and timely novel, The Best of Intentions illustrates the seemingly impossible task faced by social workers in a world with so much potential for hardship. Far from being a mere issue-laden novel, it is however a call to arms for greater human understanding and patience. Ultimately, the positive takeaway from Van Hoeydonck’s narrative is that in the aftermath of all the desperation and grief, there are small victories that can make it all worthwhile. Regardless of whether the novel inspires sadness or hope, The Best of Intentions is a powerfully moving read.