Reviews: |
by Patricia Hughes
Enough
Patricia Hughes writes gracefully about an ugly topic - domestic violence.
The narrative concerns that part of her life when she lived with
her partner, Michael. His morose, dysfunctional nature
frequently resulted in physical and psychological abuse with the
author being the victim. She recounts these experiences with an
artist's eye for detail and she creates prose that is concentrated
in its intimacy and emotional impact. Her use of dialogue provides
frightening authenticity. Direct speech is used often. She may have
kept a diary or, perhaps, such chilling moments live in the memory
so that the exact words of both parties are remembered.
My male reaction to her agony is one of surprise and shame. Why did
she let things go so far before taking decisive action? She answers
this as only a woman who has lived this hell could. My shame is that
men could be so stupidly vicious. Occasionally she touches on
factors that might be among the causes of this. I know that most
Australian men do not bash their wives or partners. However a
significant minority do. What is there in this man's makeup that is
common to other violent boyfriends and husbands? The book does not
explore this to any depth nor should it, but it provokes the
question.
"Enough" is full of surprises. For example the policewoman who
comforted Patricia when she first made a formal complaint had also
been a casualty of domestic violence. A more unpleasant shock was
the seemingly complaisant attitude with which many male police
officers reacted to Patricia's pleas for aid. Her first courtroom
experience, so graphically described, also produced dismayed shock
for both writer and reader. This is not a religious book - not
directly at any rate. Despite this, the association between God and
the problem of evil is analysed in terms that would resonate with
many readers.
The story is set in the bayside Redlands area of Brisbane. Pat and
Michael ran a fastfood café there. One of the lighter but very
readable sections of her memoirs is when she describes some of her
regular customers: Lenny, Billy, Victor, Barry and Harvey. I hope
they know they are in these pages. These thumbnail sketches are so
evocative that a comparison with Dickens would not be out of place.
"Enough" is one of those books I would like so many to read. From
the perspective of a man it portrays male behaviour that is almost
incredible, yet statistics show it is far too common. For women who
are victims here is a solid reassurance that you are not alone
combined with practical details of how to be rid of the offending
other. For the police, particularly those depicted here, I hope
there is matter for reflection on how to take far more seriously
parallel cases.
Ms Hughes plans to write professionally in the future. There is more
than sufficient in this work to suggest she will do so successfully.
Terry Oberg
This classic bildungsroman is exemplary of a practice that will create the change we desperately need.
Ironically, the work also has hallmarks of the postmodern text, with its endless internal disruption of narrative and characters, and the fierce embodiment of violence which is the recurrent experience of the protagonist. These are representations sorely lacking in Ozlit. Such writing of lived and felt experience is a crucial mechanism for framing the possibilities of change. Hughes is to be congratulated for this achievement.
Kathryn Hegarty
JAS Review of Books Issue 28
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