Endo Days (Libby Trainor Parker, Wakefield)

Libby Trainor Parker has written the perfect book adaptation of the cabaret show she performed in her PJs about endometriosis. The vibe? Women have been in pain, and ignored, forever. Now they believe us. Let’s dance about it. Trainor Parker is a comedian, journalist, teacher, radio presenter and cabaret performer. Endo Days began as a one-woman show of the same name celebrating the horrible and hilarious life of someone who deals with endometriosis—or endo—and the people who love them. Combining personal stories with interviews and expert perspectives, this book will appeal to an audience who wants to be taken seriously and needs a friend to help them through it all. (And to deal with the patronising old, male doctors who scoff.) This is the right book at the right time. Endometriosis research is growing, with the Australian government creating an action plan and committing millions of dollars to endo research. But more than that, humour is the ideal antidote to anger. The average diagnosis time for endo is 6.5 years. Endometriosis represents one of the many areas of medicine that has patronised women and people who menstruate, saying their pain didn’t matter. Hopefully, as more people understand their own bodies after reading books such as these, things will change. Endo Days will appeal to anyone who lives with the condition or knows someone who does—which is one in 10 people who menstruate.

Books+Publishing reviewer: Rebecca Whitehead is a freelance writer from Melbourne. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

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