Australian Gospel: A Family Saga (Lech Blaine, Black Inc.)
Following the success of Car Crash: A Memoir, Lech Blaine’s second book tells the true story of his unique family, who faced serious challenges inflicted by Michael and Mary Shelley, a pair of fanatical Christians. When Blaine’s parents, Tom and Lenore, fostered three of the Shelley children, their once-perfect, hardworking Queensland family was transformed into a troubled and anxious household. Australian Gospel: A Family Saga is a heartbreaking story of intergenerational trauma, abandonment, mental illness, substance misuse and religious fanaticism. Blaine carefully lays the historical foundation for the book, which is vital for contextualising the emotional layers that unfold. His extensive research is essential for understanding the complexities of the Shelleys’ obsessive nature, particularly Michael’s narcissistic personality disorder. The chapters alternate between the lives of each family, carefully knitting a web-like structure, in which the Blaine family’s happiness, security and stability are constantly threatened. Despite the nightmare-inducing creepiness of the Shelleys, Blaine’s writing maintains a light and sometimes comical tone. This emotionally charged book reads partly as a thriller and partly as a literary memoir, creating a strange yet compelling combination that makes it worthy of a TV series adaptation. More than anything, Australian Gospel is for the hopeful souls who believe love and acceptance have the power to change lives. It’s a great pick for fans of Tara Westover’s Educated, who can finally satisfy their craving for another equally unsettling memoir, this time in an Australian setting, and for readers who enjoyed Rob Henderson’s Troubled: A Memoir of Foster Care, Family, and Social Class.
Books+Publishing reviewer: Nadia Heisler is a CALD (culturally and linguistically diverse) writer originally from Brazil with a background in journalism. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.
Category: Friday Unlocked reviews Reviews
