Australian Gospel is a compelling story that manages to be both heart-warming and coldly terrifying. In short, it’s a shining example of creative non-fiction by author Lech Blaine, a stunning combination of family stories, woven into a braid that holds them all together.
You may have heard in the media of the Shelley and Blaine families’ real life saga, featuring the children of the frighteningly extremist and dysfunctional Christian parents, the adoptions and kidnappings, stalking and subterfuge, and the foster family who, despite threats and a sustained campaign of abuse, manage to raise the kids.
The flawed but good-hearted heroes are determined to do the right thing no matter what; the obsessive and humourless villains will stop at nothing to make life absolute paranoid hell for those they believe responsible for the consequences of their own bizarre behaviours.
Two sets of parents, two parallel drives to be good parents, both operating in implacable opposition to the other, one an ordinary Aussie couple, the other a deranged folie a deux – a religious cult of just two members.
The story itself involves many people, alive and dead, so there’s a complexity to the early chapters.
But, as we learn more about the family tree, about their means and motives, and about the two monsters forever lurking in the shadows, who appear without warning to scare the bejesus out of the extended family – and terrify anyone they come into contact with, the tale provides the clues and groundwork for us to understand and empathise with them all – even the monsters.
It’s not just clever to have achieved this work – not just a technical feat of writing distilling a first draft of 200,000 words down to a slim 360 pages – but a humane and thoughtful collaboration with an extraordinary number of people.
It’s a tribute to love and family, and a choice of empathy over anger. Blaine deserves the accolades he’s getting for Australian Gospel.
Australian Gospel, by Lech Blaine, November 2024, 384pp, BlackInc Publishing, RRP: $3699, ISBN: 9781760643973
B.P. Marshall is a scriptwriter and author.
