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***Winner!!! ABIA 2024 Literary Fiction Book of The Year***

***Shortlisted for the ABIA 2024 Literary Fiction Award***

”Mistakes are meant to be made, I tell myself. Mistakes are meant to be.��

I’ve said recently in another book review that life is a series of events that may or may not be interconnected. And I really feel that so much with this story, as regardless of how you may think you are in control of your destiny, oftentimes destiny will have other things in mind.

This is the story of a lass with no name who lives in a car with her Mum along the banks of the Brisbane River in a community of other folk who are also ”houseless but not homeless." And if you think about it, there is quite a distinction between the two. She is a budding Artist who draws the world and life around her in clear black ink line drawings, in a sketchbook that she carries with her everywhere. Her specialty is giving anthropomorphic traits to the people in her sketches, which most aptly display their inner character.

For those not familiar with the term, “Anthropomorphism�� is where human traits and emotions are attributed to animals or other non-human beings or objects. Or in the case of our young Artist, placing the head of a raging Tyrannosaurus Rex on the body of a man threatening a young girl in a sketch. Or a pack of shirtless youth with salivating jackal heads. Or the strength and protection of a bear. You get the picture.

Her dream is to one day have her Art displayed at the Met in New York. But she has to get there first. And to also learn who she is, as she’s been on the run all her life with her Mum to escape from an unimaginable past and has had more names than most of us have had hot dinners.

" It's so good to alive. I'm so fucking lucky to be here. What a glorious mistake I am.��

There’s an incredulity to Trent Dalton’s writing that gets me every time. Some of the situations in his books are so jaw dropping and over the top that you’ll be shaking your head in disbelief.

But it works. Because when you think about it, the crazy situations aren’t that crazy after all. As one person’s reality is another’s person’s fantasy, and many realities are something that most of us are simply unable to imagine or fathom. But someone is living that life.

This book had me tearing up from the first pages. I teared up on the work commute. I cried tears on the ferry home last night when I finished the last chapter, with the sun slowly setting over Sydney harbour. Which was quite apt as so much of this book is set along the water, albeit in Brisbane. Water has such an important role in this story. Both as a raging behemoth that can take lives, and as the refreshing cleansing of rain falling across your face.

It’s quite uncanny how the book ends in March 2024. I couldn’t have timed the reading of it better if I tried. And I loved the scene towards the end of the book where our young heroine sees the author of this book sitting on a street corner at a portable desk, wearing a brown hat "who spends his days recording the real life love stories of Brisbane strangers on an old sky-blue Olivetti typewriter. I want to stop and tell him my story, but it isn't finished yet." Which is of course Trent Dalton collecting the stories for his beautiful book Love Stories. It's such a clever and nice touch.

Despite you needing tissues for this, and yes, you will need them, there is so much hope in it. And beauty. Oh yes, lots of beauty. For how else can you appreciate it without having first suffered some sadness?

I don’t know how he does it, but Trent Dalton is an absolute bl**dy legend. If there was an “immortal�� award for Writers like there is in footy (rugby league), then he should be made an Immortal. Of letters. For creating stories that will break your heart. And glue it together again.

Truly, I hope this wins every single book award going. Every indie award, every industry award, every independent book award. It deserves all the kudos it gets and more. Most importantly of all, I know there are so many emotional readers like myself out there who will carry so many pieces of this amazing story in their hearts.

Just read this. Now. Whatever you are reading, put it down and read this first. You won’t regret it. I cannot rave about this book enough.

WORDS: Trent Dalton
ILLUSTRATIONS: Paul Heppell

And a huge shout out to the Illustrator Paul Heppell who magnificently did the drawings. A sketch for each chapter from the notebook of our budding Artist as we journey with her in discovering who she is. It’s just the cherry on top. He also has an Instagram page, so check out his work!

✩✩✩✩�� All the stars ✩✩✩✩��
✩✩✩✩�� In all the galaxies ✩✩✩✩��

”Who am I? I am love. I am forgiveness. I am memory. I am misfortune. I am pain. I am art. I am friendship. I am family. I am sorrow. I am hate. I am rage. I am beauty. I am wonder. I am ink. I am blood. I am learning. I am longing. I am action. I am courage. I am laughter. I am joy. I am gratitude. I am fire. I am water. I am dirt. I am past. I am future. I am fate. I am taken. I am lost. I am returned. I am found. I am heard. I am seen. I am home. I am here.

‘I’m Lola,�� I say. “Lola Inthemirror.�� ��

Postscript 10.May.2024
Last night, Lola In The Mirror won the
ABIA 2024 Literary Fiction Book of The Year. To say I'm excited is an understatement. I'm bloody excited! So thrilled that Trent Dalton won. It's absolutely deserved ✨️ Me happy.