AUSTRALIAN GOSPEL by Lech Blaine
In some ways I think I should be waiting to really digest the outstanding memoir Australian Gospel by Lech Blaine, but I think it might linger for so long that my thoughts will not be as timely, so here goes.
Australian Gospel is a memoir/creative non-fiction thst tells the story of Lech's family, the Blaine's. The Blaines had only one biological child of their own - Lech, who came into the world after they'd become foster parents in the 1980s and 1990s in Queensland. Three of their children, Steven, John and Hannah, had come from the same parents, Michael and Mary Shelley.
I'm trying to find the right words to describe the Shelley's: Christian Evangelicals, child abusers, criminals, pests, a menace to society.... all of the above are, in my view, true. Their children were removed from them (as well as their eldest son, Elijah (aka Michael)) due to malnourishment and mistreatment. At various times, the Shelley's stalked and harrassed their children's foster parents, various politicians (including arriving on Anna Bligh's doorstep twice), the courts, the churches and political and government institutions like Parliament House and the United Nations. Even Pope Benedict didn't escape the phrophetising of Michael Shelley. All of this is to say - and I'll say this as politely as possible - they were batshit crazy.
The kids lucked out though - they were raised by Tom and Lenore Blaine, a couple who moved around various parts of Queensland running pubs and being good parents - their kindness, simplicity and openheartedness made them a fantastic example of what the foster system can be. They raised two other children too, Trent and Rebecca. By all accounts, all five young people, plus Blaine, turned out to be pretty terrific people, much like their (now passed on) foster parents.
I ripped through this book - Blaine really is one of the best writers of his generation and his trestise on the current federal opposition leader in 2024, in the Griffith Review, is a cracker. On so many occasions, I found myself saying out loud "oh my f*cking god" or "what!?" as I read - such was the scurge of Michael Shelley on the lives of his wife and biological children. I have little doubt that while Steven, John and Hannah feel an element of sadness for what may have been, they count their lucky stars every day that they landed as they did with the Blaine's. The Blaine's were not polished up people - Tom and Lenore lived the lives of hard working, no frills Australians. However, I kept thinking, as I read through, that they were the epitome of integrity, too.
They say that the truth is stranger than fiction, and this is one of those stories you know is absolutely true, because no fiction writer could come up with this story and have it considered plausible. It is not an easy read, particularly if you have ad negative experiences in the foster system or suffered parental abuse, but it is a story that centres hope and decency. One of the best I've read and a story that will linger in my memory for a long time to come.
