Flesh Wounds (Richard Glover, ABC Books)

In this amusing but serious autobiography, writer, radio personality, parent and worrier Richard Glover looks at his startling family and asks the question—could it be the weirdest on the planet? We meet his mother, who reinvented her English past and ran off with Richard’s English teacher; his father, an alcoholic at quite a young age, who went through wives and yachts in pursuit of pipe dreams; Debra, his wife and muse; and, eventually, the English relatives his mother simply deleted from her re-created background (and whom he takes great pains to trace and meet as an adult). Glover’s account of his early years is touching yet often hilarious as the boy tries to make sense of his parents’ behaviour. The book’s tone darkens as the older Glover wrestles with filial duty versus the realisation that his parents are too busy and self-absorbed to be bothered with him. Yet the book is replete with entertaining recollections. The account of his then-girlfriend (now wife) Debra’s first meetings with both his father and stepfather are poignantly amusing; their misadventures on the M65 in the UK will resonate with many. Do you have parents who bewilder and perplex you? This is the book for you.

Max Oliver is a retired Australian bookseller whose relationship with his parents was turbulent

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Category: Reviews