Nothing Bad Ever Happens Here | Heather Rose #AWWmemoir

Opening Line:

_{Here she is, standing in the schoolyard. She is six years old, dressed in a crisp green uniform. Other children are on the swings and seesaw, but she has taken herself off to stand alone under the eucalyptus at the edge of the playground.}

Nothing Ever Happens Here: A Memoir of Loss and Discovery began its reading journey with me as my lunch time read at work. I was lucky enough to get an ARC in August, so I knew I had a nice long leisurely time to read it before it’s pub date in November. At the time, all I knew is that it was something different from Heather Rose and that it had a spiritual bent.

I was hesitant.

Going on someone else’s spiritual journey is not my cup of tea at all. But after the first few chapters I realised that what Rose had written was actually a grief and loss memoir, which is obvious once you read the full title of the book properly, which I hadn’t at that point! As many of you already know, grief and loss memoirs are one of my go-to genres, so it will come as no surprise to learn that I devoured the first three chapters, arriving back at work with tears in my eyes.

Every chapter begins with a quote of stanza of a poem – from the likes of Hafiz, Pablo Neruda, Osho, Khalil Gibran, Robert Frost, Arthur C. Clarke to name a few plus lines from her own personal letters and journal. Rose also lets us know that some names and narrative have been changed ‘to protect the identities of those who may not have wanted to be written about or chose to remain anonymous.’

I found this rather fascinating. I completely understand why some would wish to remain anonymous, but how do you write a story about your childhood and other significant life experiences, without some of the people who may have shared them with you, perhaps in very pivotal ways?

I guess this is where the creative writer part comes in handy, and why memoirs are often described as narrative non-fiction. It’s a story, populated with most of the real people and most of the real events. Timelines and timing can be tweeked to make the story flow better, that’s all part of the art. The honesty and authenticity (that is essential for a memoir if it is to connect with its readers) comes from the author’s own experiences and their understanding and intepretation of those experiences. That’s why we are reading the book in the first, because of some previous interest in the author or the topic. In this case, I had had a very fine time with Rose’s previous novels – The Museum of Modern Love and the Butterfly Man. I was ready to trust her, that she wouldn’t try to manipulate me, the reader, in any way.

Having said all of that, Rose’s memoir still took me to places I did not expect.

The natural world and the paranormal world are closely bound together in Rose’s life. Chronic pain is something she also manages every day. I will not go into details about all the different ways that Heather tried to work through her grief and loss. Her story does reminds me, though, that everyone has their own journey to take when it comes to losing someone, or multiple someones, you love. There is no right or wrong way, it’s simply your way. However, losing loved ones suddenly at a young age does seem to be one of those instances when the grief and loss process can continue well into one’s adult life. Rose certainly explored many different, unusual and sometimes extreme ways to process this grief. Some of her stories are not for the faint-hearted.

With compassion though, she explored all the ways that loss not only affected herself, but her family over time. This type of grief, compounded by feelings of guilt and ‘what if’s’, had roll-on effects for everyone concerned. Relationships changed dramatically, creating their own traumas.

Every lunch break, I would return gasping to my colleagues, “you’re not going to believe what she did next!” The lengths she went to, in an attempt to find peace of mind, were truly astonishing.

How do you finish a story that is clearly still a work in progress?

In this case, Rose chose to end with a number of simple (cliched) statements to help all of us get through this life, to help us enjoy this ‘beautiful, mysterious, magical place to live‘. It’s always nice to be reminded to ‘start with love’, ‘to speak your truth’ and ‘trust your instincts’ but it felt a bit too simple and self-helpy for my tastes.

Anyhow…

I sincerely hope that Rose found some peace in writing this story. It’s an extraordinary tale of ordinary lives ripped apart by tragedy. Lives full of courage and love and determination. Flawed lives, where mistakes were made with traumas unintentionally inflicted, where relationships were constantly renegotiated and where forgiveness was eventully, graciously granted.

This won’t be for everyone. There are some disturbing and bizarre scenes and two accounts of what can only be described as cultural appropriation in today’s parlance. Nothing Bad Ever Happens Here is a deeply personal author memoir you will never forget.

Title: Nothing Bad Ever Happens Here
Author: Heather Rose
ISBN: 9781761066320
Imprint: Allen & Unwin
Published: 1 November 2022
Format: Trade Paperback
Pages: 256
Dates Read: 18 August 2022 - 7 October 2022

This post was written on the traditional land of the Wangal clan, one of the 29 clans of the Eora Nation within the Sydney basin. This Reading Life recognises the continuous connection to Country, community and culture of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. They are the traditional custodians of the lands, seas, and skies on which we live and they are this nations first storytellers.