Bodies of Light by Jennifer Down is a highly recommended traumatic and heartbreaking story of the life of one Australian woman. Maggie's life has consisted of one appalling, traumatic experience after an other, starting with her childhood, her time in foster/group care homes and continuing with heartbreaking, dreadful events into adulthood. This is the winner of the 2022 Miles Franklin Literary Award.

This is not a pleasant novel to read. It is distressing, bleak, and harrowing throughout the entire novel. Yes, the quality of the writing is excellent, but the narrative never gives the reader a true pause from the feeling of a life of futility and hopelessness. There are brief periods where you think she is going to overcome her past experiences and live a fulfilling life, but they are brief as another horrific turn of events will quickly follow. Maggie does keep trying to cope with everything. The first half of the novel is stronger than the last half.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of the Text Publishing Company via Edelweiss.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2023/07/bodies-of-light.html ( )

this is just trauma porn.
If you want to read about the repeated rape of a child by three different men in the first 48 pages - look no further.

reading about australia in the 80s - great.

paedophillia and the abuse of a child. - - no bro.

(8.5) ( )

No doubt the best book I’ve read in quite a while. Perfectly paced. Deeply touching. It’s fiction, but so real you’d swear it was a life memoir. All this from a writer still young enough to be considered precocious. Jennifer Down is genius. ( )

4.5 stars rounded down because it felt really long towards the end and the themes are pretty depressing. It does end on a good note, however. The writing is sensational. My library recommends books by Australian writers and I try to borrow one each month. This one is Melbournian and most of the book is based in Victoria. It follows the life story of a woman who lost her parents early and went through the child protection foster system and the impact of significant complex trauma in her life. It's a very compelling because of the way she writes. Really worth a read. ( )