Australian Gospel: A Family Saga

by Lech Blaine

From one of Australia's most brilliant writers, a dark comedy about the tangled fates of two couples and the children trapped between them
Michael and Mary Shelley are Christian fanatics who loathe their fellow Australians – especially their 'foul language, reckless indulgence of alcohol and obsession with idiotic ball sports'.


Lenore and Tom Blaine are working-class Queensland publicans raising a large family in a raucous, loving, rugby-league-obsessed home.


There's just one problem. The Blaines are foster parents to three of the Shelleys' children, who were removed from Michael and Mary as infants. And the Shelleys are prepared to do anything to get them back. Anything.


Australian Gospel is a family saga like no other – heartbreaking, hilarious and altogether astonishing.


'One of the best writers of his generation.' Benjamin Law


'Blaine's native tongue, an ocker irreverence, gives his writing an amiable charm and reflects the styles of artists such as Tim Winton, Stella Franklin and Helen Garner.' Australian Book Review

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Book Club, Australia, Biography, Audiobook, Family

385 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 5, 2024

About the author

Lech Blaine is a writer from Toowoomba, Queensland. His work appears in The Best Australian Essays, Meanjin, The Guardian and The Monthly, among others. His work has been nominated for several prizes and he was an inaugural recipient of a Griffith Review Queensland Writers Fellowship.

Reviews

[Jaclyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Imagine having such a good story to tell and being as talented a storyteller as Lech Blaine. Blaine’s idiosyncratic publican parents fostered three children whose biological parents were Christian fanatics who routinely threatened people, attempted to kidnap their children, and were placed into correctional and psychiatric facilities. All four parents loom large in this account of familial love, dysfunction and inheritance. Blaine switches between these biological and foster families and the effect is comic, tragic and poignant. That he was able to weave so many primary sources into the text is well worth the effort. The intermingled fates of the Blaines and Shelleys are so richly explored and in a dry wry delivery only Lech Blaine could write. I love his writing (read Car Crash if you haven’t already).

[Allison Harvey · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a tale! @Netflix, pls turn this into a mini-series.

[Jülie ☼♄  · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a complex and fascinating story involving a family tree with many grafted, as well as fixed branches.
How a foster family navigates a roller coaster of a journey to overcome all the odds.

I struggled at first to keep up with who was who and their position of hierarchy in the tree as names changed and people came and went.
I persisted because, for all of its complexities, the story was compelling and intriguing…in fact because of its complexities.
Early in the book I discovered that Lech Blaine had been interviewed by Richard Fidler in 2017 on ABC radio, (in Conversations with Richard Fidler) so I googled until I found this and other recordings to listen to before I read on. (*See link below.)
This helped immensely as I gained a more intimate introduction to the people in Lech Blaine’s life. I would recommend other readers do the same for advantageous insight ahead of reading the book.
Such a complex and engrossing history.

Lech Blaine tells his story so casually that the events within sound almost natural …but you know the stories within the story are far from the norm, and there is so much to tell that it seems he doesn’t come up for air. It is quite a history.
This story is a lot to absorb, one can only imagine what the reality must have been like.

Australian Gospel is a thoroughly absorbing and well written book.

4⭐️s

In Conversation with Richard Fidler:
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/program...

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the true story of Lech Blaine’s family. His parents fostered the biological children of Michael and Mary Shelley, a narcissistic man and unstable woman with a fanatical set of religious beliefs that lead them to despise other Australians, and who would stop at nothing to get their children back.

The tragic set of events is told with a dry, comic, very Aussie ocker sense of humour. The arrogance and fanatical hectoring of Michael Shelley is contrasted strongly with the very down to earth but loving fathering of Tom Blaine, who reminded me of Kenny the Dunny Man.

It took me a while to get into this book and the narrative voice, but once I did I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[ally · Rating 3 out of 5]

moving vignettes and super interesting and also crazy but i just felt like it moved too fast… i had a lot of whiplash and i would’ve liked to sit with more of it for longer!

[Meina · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars from me. While the story is fascinating and an amazing tribute to the foster parents, I struggled a bit with the writing. In particular the jumping between the two (and at times more) sides of the story was sometimes confusing, and the timeline also wasn't always clear. In some places, the writing was simply a long list of facts and events that happened, but i felt that not all of them were necessarily needed for the story line. I found them distracting and would have preferred if the writer expanded more on the things that did matter (at least to me) instead of describing everything that happened.

For example, later in the book, the Shelley's fly to and travel around Europe. I would have liked to find out how they paid for those tickets, and where did the money for Mary's bail in France come from? In part 3, chapter 11 Michael manages to find Steven's address in Perth even though he was a silent voter and not listed in the White Pages.

[Angus McGregor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Australian Gospel is the perfect title. The main source of family income is flipping pubs, sports of all kinds are the greatest good, and the judicial system is completely fucked.

Based on hundreds of forthcoming interviews, the true story reaches novelistic levels of detail. I wish more 'regular' families had a writer in the home who could put it all together.

The country emerges as incredibly secular from an American standpoint. The Christian fanatics look completely out of place.

It is hard not to get sucked into the Australian dreamer narrative by the end. It's too easy to forget that most people can't just rely on familial love to get through mental health issues and poverty.

The brother who realizes that becomes a Greens voter, the one who believes he pulled himself up by his own bootstraps ends up voting Liberal. Some things never change!

Sorry to the publisher who mailed this book to me individually expecting a proper review while I was still sitting in the Honi chair! This will have to do.

[Merceiam · Rating 3 out of 5]

This memoir is a sad indictment of the state of mental health support in Australia. Two people, clearly with complex mental health and personality disorders, lead peripatetic lifestyles that involve harassing and inciting fear upon the many people they encounter. One spends short, frequent spells in psychiatric hospitals whilst the other somehow avoids this and spends short spells in gaol.
More stars for this if it had been edited - at times, it was a bit like reading someone’s travel diary, with too many details of every place visited.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Destined to be one of the great Australian books. A wonderfully told story, vivid and rich in detail. Very hard to put down!

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s an amazing family story. I wouldn’t normally choose books like this one but I’m pleased that this time I did. Lech Blaine is an accomplished writer. This story is incredibly complex and required a massive amount of research. For that alone it deserves praise. It’s fascinating from start to finish.

[Jennifer Severn · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a saga! Lech is the youngest child of six, and the only biological one, in the family of Tom and Lenore Blaine. Three of the others are the biological children of Michael and Mary Shelley, fanatical, evangelical Christians. Michael sees himself as Jesus-returned, and over the years constantly coerces his weak and mentally ill wife to join him in trying to regain custody of the three, so the Blaine family is always on the move, just one step ahead of the kidnappers. Lech stays out of view in this memoir, possibly because he'd already written Car Crash, which was almost entirely about him. So it's a romping tale, with Tom Blaine the larger-than-life publican father keeping the family together with the help of wife Lenore, a bliss-bomb of love. Well worth a read.

[Elaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have never read a book like this (and I have read plenty). The author’s writing style is unique with much use of the vernacular as he tells these parallel stories of two families, the biological, and the foster family. There is much humour in this account, as well as the tragedy of mental illness. Lech Blaine maintains a light touch, and no judgement, even though much of the content is so very sad. I am glad I was able to read this Australian story. (It deserves 6 stars)

[Georgia May · Rating 5 out of 5]

It felt like a Paul Kelly song that was edited by Trent Dalton. A family saga with Queensland references and Allan Langer trivia chucked in. It’s rare to read a book so full of love and compassion. It should be in the curriculum and given to members of parliament.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

5 star content, 3 star writing.
What an unbelievable life and family. There was just so much to take in and to think about. I’ve often thought about being a foster carer, and this really reaffirmed the power and importance of foster parents.
I did struggle with the writing. It was like a list of facts. I understand the reason behind that, but I didn’t love it. The occasional ‘my’ and ‘I’ that came into the narrative voice also threw me off the story at times.

[Emily Conaghan 🐛 · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5⭐️

[Donna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting story, kind of, but I didn't enjoy the writing style. To say anything else would seem mean, so I'll refrain.

[court · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 - this was such a complex multi layered story that really threw you in the deep end and makes you just want to hug the kids. It was an amazing read

[Magenta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best book I’ve read in a long time.

[Andie Fine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a masterpiece!

[Kerrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely incredible, unforgettable true Australian story. What amazing humans the Blaine family are. Cannot recommend this book highly enough.

[Brooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lech Blaine’s moving memoir of a foster family built on love and unwavering support is an emotional read which I devoured in a day. It’s the story of Lech’s foster siblings and their chaotic origins. Michael and Mary Shelley were fanatical Christians who believed that everything about the Australian way of life was loathsome. Reading about their early lives and meeting one another was an interesting look at how particular choices can change your life.

The author’s parents, Tom and Lenore Blaine were hardworking Queensland publicans who ended up fostering three of the Shelley’s children when they were removed from their parents as babies. The Shelleys were obsessed with the wrongs that had been done to them and would stop at nothing to get their children back. Their campaign of threats, abuse and religious zealotry spanned years and multiple incarcerations affecting all those they came into contact with.

Lech has told this story in an often humourous, but at times heartbreaking way, that had me completely engaged with this tale. The constant threat from the Shelleys was so tense and heartbreaking but the love given to these children by Tom and Lenore through addiction, mental illness and inter generational trauma, was unwavering and inspiring.

If you enjoy memoirs involving family sagas then I urge you to pick this one up.

[Tori · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful creative non-fiction story! This is about the true story of children placed into the Australian foster system, the lives they built, the love of their foster family and the unstableness of their biological parents. Its a story or love. Unhealthy love, sad love, beautiful love and unlikely love. Depicting the quintessential Australianness of a QLD family that makes you laugh in between the disbelief.

[John PB · Rating 2 out of 5]

really interesting and captivating story but I really struggled with the writing - inconsistent voice, bland and repetative sentences, and similes that don't make sense

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic and also unbelievable

[Caren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Both heart-warming and heart-breaking, this family saga provides a detailed recount of the author’s family as they fight to keep the foster children they have raised and loved. The biological parents, Michael and Mary Shelley, are Christian fanatics who suffer mental illnesses that cause them to see themselves as saviours of a morally corrupt society, especially “deserving” of having their children returned to them. The youngest biological son of the loving foster family, Lech Blaine, spares the reader no detail as to the years’ long struggle between the families, the legal battles raged, and the emotional impact of the attempts to regain custody on both the Blaines and the Shelleys.

The story is one that must be read to be believed, but I struggled to wade through the overwritten detail. With more stringent editing, the story still could have retained both the evident love and strength that existed with the Blaines and the terrifying extent of the horror that the disturbed Shelleys inflicted on this ordinary Australian family.

[Tony Cinque · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love (or what you think is love) can take you to the cliff edge of torment, laughing at you as you plummet down the precipice.

If you’re reading this for its sordid storyline across dysfunctional nutjob people in the extreme, good for you - you’ll enjoy it. Mind you, I too enjoyed the story as it unravelled, particularly the second half of the book.

But for me, as a literary work of storytelling, it falls short.
Quite a basic disjointed read. It reads like an early rough draft. It’s clunky.
Like someone hurriedly telling you something they want you to hear, but are too impatient and start jumping around like drunken crickets in order to get to the punchline quickly.

For me, it was like eating a Big Mac meal - “why did I do that?”

[Ashleigh Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This complex story has been told so well. Lech’s mum Lenore is everything we should aspire to be and who the world needs more of. Lech is a great writer and I look forward to reading his other work.

[Isabelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow this was an extraordinary read. I was overcome with awe at the strength and extent of love that foster parents could show to children that weren’t biologically theirs. I was equally struck by the complicated and persistent love that the biological parents had for their children (as twisted and messed up as they were). As a new Mum, the love parents have for their children (biological or not) really resonated and kept me reading all day. This book was a stark reminder of the importance of a stable home, unwavering love, praise and adoration and being your child’s champion. Great book club book!

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the way he writes - and narrative non-fiction has to be one of my favourite genres (controversially I LOVED three women). I liked how steeped in Australiana it is

[Nyssa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Couldn't put this one down. Incredible story told with compassion and evocative detail.