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- Winner, Victorian Prize for Literature, 2018
- Winner, Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Non-Fiction, 2018
- Winner, ABIA General Non-Fiction Book of the Year, 2018
- Winner, Dobbie Literary Award for a first time published author, 2018
- Shortlisted Wellcome Book Prize, United Kingdom, 2019
- Joint winner, Douglas Stewart Prize for Non-Fiction, NSW Premier’s Literary Awards, 2019
- Shortlisted, National Biography Award, 2019
Before she was a trauma cleaner, Sandra Pankhurst was many things: husband and father, drag queen, gender reassignment patient, sex worker, small businesswoman, trophy wife…
But as a little boy, raised in violence and excluded from the family home, she just wanted to belong. Now she believes her clients deserve no less.
A woman who sleeps among garbage she has not put out for forty years. A man who bled quietly to death in his lounge room. A woman who lives with rats, random debris and terrified delusion. The still life of a home vacated by accidental overdose.
Sarah Krasnostein has watched the extraordinary Sandra Pankhurst bring order and care to these, the living and the dead—and the book she has written is equally extraordinary. Not just the compelling story of a fascinating life among lives of desperation, but an affirmation that, as isolated as we may feel, we are all in this together.
Author: Sarah Krasnostein
Paperback Published October 2019 272 pages
'An extraordinarily impressive debut, in terms of both quality of writing and treatment of the subject matter…Krasnostein handles her material with respect, grace and compassion.’ Sydney Morning Herald
"A book that is as hard to read as it is hard to put down. A story of pain and loss and loneliness, of trauma and transformations and sassy humour. And cleaning…It is a hilarious and poignant tale of a woman who defies all labels…Krasnostein is a very fine writer. Her debut book is a compelling and honest story of human survival, and love.’ Janet Albrechtsen, Australian