Book Review - The Trauma Cleaner

This is a book about a very complex person.
A complex person doing a complex job.
Meet Sandra.  Sandra is a trauma cleaner.

Written by Sarah Krasnostein, this book is on a level with Susan Falludi's In The Darkroom and anything by Helen Garner.
The Trauma Cleaner is an exercise in empathy, whilst at the same time a compelling page turner.

When we meet Sandra she is cleaning the home of "Kim", a person most of us would consider irredeemably lost.  Her house is self-vandalised on the outside and the interior shows levels of self-neglect that Krasnostein regards as a type of "living death".   Sandra is not only able to reach Kim, but also relays her a sense of dignity in the process.

A remarkable gift, considering what Sandra herself has suffered.

Sarah Krasnostein's investigation into Sandra's story - her real story - is a remarkable achievement.  Sandra is the most unreliable source of her own narrative, and who can blame her.  Gender transitioning, childhood trauma, abuse and terminal illness underpin her story and whilst it is not a story of triumph, it darn well doesn't feel sorry for itself.

Krasnostein's writing is a marvel as well.  Her extrapolations about Sandra's life and those of whom Sandra has touched are often very beautiful and quite magnificent - not unlike her subject.

Certainly unusual, this biography is an illuminating foray into a world I'm sure most of us don't really want to explore.  But do it anyway.  You will find that like it's fierce subject, The Trauma Cleaner is a story, a read and a journey with many layers.








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