Look After Your Feet: Some Keen Observations on the Unexpected Advantages and Indignities of Getting Older (Rosalie Ham, A&U)

Rosalie Ham (The Dressmaker) turns her sharp wit toward the journey of ageing in her first nonfiction book, Look After Your Feet. Insightful, mischievous and often very funny, the memoir is arranged in 12 sections that trace moments from across Ham’s life, including her early work as a nurse, her path to becoming a writer, her husband’s declining health and her life after his death, as well as the sustaining presence of friends, children and grandchildren. Throughout, she captures the strange, frequently comic realities of living in an ageing body. Ham offers a candid perspective on growing older, in which physical deterioration is paired with an unexpected sharpening of insight into mortality and meaning. She also reflects on shifts in Australian society across 7 decades, particularly in language and social behaviour, giving the essays a subtle cultural and personal resonance. The book’s footnotes are used to lively effect, delivering sly asides that enrich the reading experience. Pieces such as her account of joining a group of women who pooled their resources to acquire art, alongside her reflections on the film adaptation of The Dressmaker and the trip to Toronto for its international premiere, demonstrate the collection’s range. Look After Your Feet is a warm, entertaining collection likely to resonate particularly with women, and will delight readers who enjoy the candour and comic bite of Nora Ephron’s I Feel Bad About My Neck.

Books+Publishing reviewer: Jess Lomas is the reviews editor at Books+Publishing. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

Books+Publishing pre-publication reviews are supported by the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund.

Category: Friday Unlocked reviews Reviews