Australian Gospel by Lech Blaine

An unputdownable memoir

I was in the audience of the opening night at Melbourne Writers Festival last week when The Age non fiction book of the year was announced as Australian Gospel by Lech Blaine. I poked Karen who was sitting next to me and told her I’d just begun it the night before and it was a bloody good book.

This morning, I stayed in bed until I finished it as I couldn’t bear to leave it one more day. It has kept me up for most nights over the last week and I agree with the judges of the award. Blaine was described by the judges as:

…an exceptionally gifted storyteller, alive to all the nuances of character and the circumstances that shape the lives of people

It is a riveting stranger-than-fiction story of his family’s battle with the biological parents of Lech’s three fostered siblings, Christian fanatics who spent decades trying to get their children back. Blaine does such a great job of shining light on both sides of the story. He shows with compassion for everyone involved the deep love that both sets of parents had for their children and the complexity of the foster system.

There’s kidnappings, hiding children, court cases, gaol sentences, psych hospital admittances. At the heart of it though is love. It reads like a ripping Australian crime novel, but it’s not. It’s all true, it’s just brilliantly conceived.

I highly recommend reading this memoir. Lenore and Tom Blaine, and Michael and Mary Shelley and all the children will stay with me for a long time.

I borrowed this copy from my local library before it won the prize and I dare say it now has a waitlist!