The Trauma Cleaner | Book Review
I am almost too nervous to put words to this beautiful book in case I discourage anyone from reading it and cause them to miss out on something precious. I have stopped weeping now and made myself a coffee.
The book feels like a love letter, as Sarah Krasnostein writes in her opening chapter. I found myself thinking only half way through the book that if someone this warm and observant wrote a book about any of our lives we'd be at least partly healed by that vital and rare act of someone paying close, generous attention to the intricate details of our past and thinking deeply and kindly about how that makes sense of us in the present.
Sarah Krasnostein's beautiful mind and power of expression affects me in much the same way as Helen Garner in books like This House of Grief, or Joe Cinque's Consolation - and I never thought that would happen.
On a lighter note, I think I may be cured of any tendencies toward hoarding.
Awards:
Winner, Victorian Prize for Literature, 2018 Winner, Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Non-Fiction, 2018 Shortlisted, Indie Book Award for Non-fiction, 2018 Longlisted, ABIA General Non-Fiction Book of the Year, 2018 Longlisted, ABIA Matt Richell Award for New Writer of the Year, 2018
