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Bohemian Negligence (Bertie Blackman, A&U)

Bertie Blackman is an artist and ARIA Award–winning musician whose storytelling is as beautiful as the drawings scattered throughout her memoir. Bohemian Negligence is told by Blackman as a four-year-old girl who remembers her life as a series of detailed pictures, creating them with as much detail as a painting or the drawings within her book. These vignettes from Blackman’s life are full of detail and her distinctive voice. And while the reader might look for—and find—the influence of her famous father, artist Charles Blackman, the author’s character is altogether the more interesting of the two. Yes, Blackman has a famous dad; his influence is always there, and often beautiful. But Bertie Blackman’s story is her own. The reader moves with her moment-to-moment, from house to studio and across Australia, as if right next to her—the feeling of intimacy is pervasive. This is also a story of abuse and trauma, told in vivid and merciless detail. Sometimes Blackman’s words are radioactive; at other times they emit a warm glow. For a fellow survivor of childhood sexual abuse, they can be like an ambush that must be survived. But as Blackman explains, survivors are that way because of their strength. There is survival, and ultimately a kind of peace. Blackman is a strong woman and a strong writer. Readers of Eggshell Skull by Bri Lee will appreciate Bohemian Negligence.

Rebecca Whitehead is a freelance writer from Melbourne.

 

Category: Reviews