Things She Would Have Said Herself (Catherine Therese, Hachette)

Catherine Therese’s novel Things She Would Have Said Herself is an ambitious undertaking, centring on the life of elderly matriarch Leslie Bird and her family. The novel switches between the perspectives of Leslie—who is abrasive, insecure and unhappy with her family and herself—her bumbling and at-times hapless husband Wallace, their children, Leslie’s sister and even her mother, often spreading itself thin as it twists and turns from character to character. While the story periodically buckles under the weight of its unlikeable, conservative, bitter protagonist, it is ultimately held together by the raw, evocative storytelling and the complex individuals that make up the supporting cast. All the characters in this novel are deeply lonely and desperate for warmth and to be seen. Leslie forms a bond with her hairdresser, who is the only person to have unflinchingly witnessed the haemangioma (or, ‘strawberry’ birthmark) on her neck, which Leslie hides and perceives as atrocious. Her eldest daughter Shelley fakes having cancer so that her son will pay attention to her, Wallace gives sappy speeches at weddings hoping to win his wife’s approval, and their son Michael is deeply wounded by his parents’ neglect of him. Things She Would Have Said Herself will appeal to fans of Olive Kitteridge, as it unpacks the trauma that shapes difficult people and shows an unshrinking commitment towards exploring discomfort, grief and loss.

Books+Publishing reviewer: Shivani Prabhu is a Melbourne-based writer and editor. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

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Category: Reviews