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The Book of Emmett
Emmett Brown was a charming young man who quoted poetry and read to his wife and young family from the great novels of the world. But failed efforts to win a fortune at the racetracks turned Emmett into a broken down gambling drunk who terrorized his wife and children. Starting at Emmett’s funeral and reflecting back, the two eldest Brown children—Louise and Rob—recount the rise and fall of their family. Each of Emmett’s children must address the fallout of Emmett, and each comes to discover that they loved and learnt from their father in both his golden and his dark days.
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
10 people are currently reading
133 people want to read
About the author
Deborah Forster
2 books7 followersDeborah Forster grew up in Footscray, Melbourne. She worked as a staff and freelance journalist for many years and was a This Life columnist on The Age and The Sunday Age. Deborah Foster is married to Alan Kohler and they have three children. Her novels include the Miles Franklin shortlisted The Book Of Emmett and The Meaning Of Grace, shortlisted for the Age Fiction Book of the Year.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
July 25, 2023
“An estimated 3.8 million people (20%) aged 18 years and over have experienced violence (physical and/or sexual) by an intimate partner or family member since the age of 15, including: 27% of women (2.7 million) 12% of men (1.1 million)” I can quote from the Australian Bureau of Statistics in 21/22 report.
Staggering statistics considering that I have never experienced domestic violence in my family nor do I know anyone that has. Occasional mentions have happened over the years. The lady who I worked with who came in occasionally with a black eye, there were rumours. A friend of my wife once told us that her father had hit her mother several times over the years, but little else was ever mentioned.
Even though a novel to say I was in shock of the violence that was committed on a family by a drunken father has left me astonished if this could even be half true. The author Deborah Forster has stated that it is vaguely based on her own family experience. Good grief. Did others suffer?
The Book of Emmett begins with a funeral for the violent father. This is his eponymous book. It tells via third party narrative what he did to an undeserving family and how his savage cruelness caused not only the death of one of his children but left the survivors in a state of never living a life without him dominating just about everything they did from a young age of fear through to a lifetime of memory that seemed to become a love/hate middle age to his children and only memories of him giving her children she loved to his wife. This is a brutal telling of family forced into dysfunctionality.
I accept that books such as this are not entertaining and some will not enjoy it but it was hard not to keep reading as it was so powerfully thought provoking, such that it will live with me for a long time.
Staggering statistics considering that I have never experienced domestic violence in my family nor do I know anyone that has. Occasional mentions have happened over the years. The lady who I worked with who came in occasionally with a black eye, there were rumours. A friend of my wife once told us that her father had hit her mother several times over the years, but little else was ever mentioned.
Even though a novel to say I was in shock of the violence that was committed on a family by a drunken father has left me astonished if this could even be half true. The author Deborah Forster has stated that it is vaguely based on her own family experience. Good grief. Did others suffer?
The Book of Emmett begins with a funeral for the violent father. This is his eponymous book. It tells via third party narrative what he did to an undeserving family and how his savage cruelness caused not only the death of one of his children but left the survivors in a state of never living a life without him dominating just about everything they did from a young age of fear through to a lifetime of memory that seemed to become a love/hate middle age to his children and only memories of him giving her children she loved to his wife. This is a brutal telling of family forced into dysfunctionality.
I accept that books such as this are not entertaining and some will not enjoy it but it was hard not to keep reading as it was so powerfully thought provoking, such that it will live with me for a long time.
June 23, 2019
‘The Browns are hidden children.’
Emmett Brown was an abused child who became an abusive husband and father. He was emotional and eccentric; his mood could shift suddenly. A man of contradictions; a lover of literature, convinced his ‘System’ could bend the laws of probability. But when the lottery numbers and the horses let him down and the drink takes hold, he is frequently an ogre. He could be violent, he might (rarely) tender. But family members live for the tender moments and try to downplay the violence. His family is his wife Anne and their children Louisa, Rob, Peter, Daniel and Jessie.
The Book of Emmett begins and ends with Emmett’s funeral, and how his now adult children try to reconcile their feelings. In between, we learn about Emmett and his impact on the lives of family members. It’s uncomfortable and confronting.
‘Nine years old and there are some truths she knows that aren’t in any book.’
The setting (in a neglected area of Footscray) is important to the story. People battle to survive, families band together against outsiders but have their own internal rivalries. The Brown children try to look out for each other, they don’t always succeed. They grow up, they move out but cannot leave the past behind.
It took me a while to read this novel: I would open the book and step into the story. I could hear Emmett, sense his violence, hope to see the tender side of him. I could feel for Louisa as she tried to find her own place in the world, appreciate the conflict the children felt over their feelings for him. I kept wishing for different outcomes. And when Emmett’s health fails, the children suffer another form of loss. Emmett as he was (strong, opinionated and violent) becomes a husk. His memory may fail, but theirs does not.
‘His memory is draining away even as they speak to him.’
While Anne acknowledges the violence, she says he had to stay with Emmett. There was nowhere else to go, no other means of support. So many women in abusive and failing marriages feel the same, I’m not sure that they recognise the lifelong impact this will have on their children.
I kept reading. Emmett is complex: I could almost understand Anne’s attraction to him, and his children’s conflicting feelings. This was Ms Forster’s first novel and was on the Miles Franklin Shortlist for 2010. I am in awe of Ms Forster’s writing, and unsettled by the story. I can relate to some aspects and recognise others. The characters are complex, deftly drawn and human.
‘And then they press on and the dark folds itself around them and then the light retreats like a fallen leaf.’
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
Emmett Brown was an abused child who became an abusive husband and father. He was emotional and eccentric; his mood could shift suddenly. A man of contradictions; a lover of literature, convinced his ‘System’ could bend the laws of probability. But when the lottery numbers and the horses let him down and the drink takes hold, he is frequently an ogre. He could be violent, he might (rarely) tender. But family members live for the tender moments and try to downplay the violence. His family is his wife Anne and their children Louisa, Rob, Peter, Daniel and Jessie.
The Book of Emmett begins and ends with Emmett’s funeral, and how his now adult children try to reconcile their feelings. In between, we learn about Emmett and his impact on the lives of family members. It’s uncomfortable and confronting.
‘Nine years old and there are some truths she knows that aren’t in any book.’
The setting (in a neglected area of Footscray) is important to the story. People battle to survive, families band together against outsiders but have their own internal rivalries. The Brown children try to look out for each other, they don’t always succeed. They grow up, they move out but cannot leave the past behind.
It took me a while to read this novel: I would open the book and step into the story. I could hear Emmett, sense his violence, hope to see the tender side of him. I could feel for Louisa as she tried to find her own place in the world, appreciate the conflict the children felt over their feelings for him. I kept wishing for different outcomes. And when Emmett’s health fails, the children suffer another form of loss. Emmett as he was (strong, opinionated and violent) becomes a husk. His memory may fail, but theirs does not.
‘His memory is draining away even as they speak to him.’
While Anne acknowledges the violence, she says he had to stay with Emmett. There was nowhere else to go, no other means of support. So many women in abusive and failing marriages feel the same, I’m not sure that they recognise the lifelong impact this will have on their children.
I kept reading. Emmett is complex: I could almost understand Anne’s attraction to him, and his children’s conflicting feelings. This was Ms Forster’s first novel and was on the Miles Franklin Shortlist for 2010. I am in awe of Ms Forster’s writing, and unsettled by the story. I can relate to some aspects and recognise others. The characters are complex, deftly drawn and human.
‘And then they press on and the dark folds itself around them and then the light retreats like a fallen leaf.’
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
April 3, 2010
The name Emmett means ’all-containing; universal; and strength’ and although a baby naming website tells me that it is derived from Irish patriots commemorating Robert Emmet, it sounds as if it is of Biblical origin. This allusion in the title is clever because Emmett Brown is an Old Testament father indeed.
I’ll admit that I didn’t like the sound of this book; I’m not fond of the misery memoir genre and I suspected that a novel about an abusive father would be dreary. When The Book of Emmett made its way onto the Miles Franklin longlist for 2010 I didn’t intend to read it unless it made it into the shortlist. I relented, however, when I saw it at the library and brought the book home, not expecting to enjoy it. By the end of the first chapter I knew my first impressions were wrong. Read the rest at
http://anzlitlovers.wordpress.com/201...
BTW the 4 stars is for the quality of the writing. It's not a book to 'enjoy' but one rather to expand your understanding of why people behave the way they do.
I’ll admit that I didn’t like the sound of this book; I’m not fond of the misery memoir genre and I suspected that a novel about an abusive father would be dreary. When The Book of Emmett made its way onto the Miles Franklin longlist for 2010 I didn’t intend to read it unless it made it into the shortlist. I relented, however, when I saw it at the library and brought the book home, not expecting to enjoy it. By the end of the first chapter I knew my first impressions were wrong. Read the rest at
http://anzlitlovers.wordpress.com/201...
BTW the 4 stars is for the quality of the writing. It's not a book to 'enjoy' but one rather to expand your understanding of why people behave the way they do.
October 16, 2019
I truly didn’t expect to enjoy this as much as I did.
I picked it up for $1 last weekend at the Lifeline book fair in the Aus-lit section and I half expected an easy read if not a bit trauma-porny.
But I really did enjoy enjoy this one. It’s hard to write fiction about abuse and it not be cheesy or voyeuristic but this one does a pretty good job.
I picked it up for $1 last weekend at the Lifeline book fair in the Aus-lit section and I half expected an easy read if not a bit trauma-porny.
But I really did enjoy enjoy this one. It’s hard to write fiction about abuse and it not be cheesy or voyeuristic but this one does a pretty good job.
September 16, 2011
This is a beautifully written book with passages such as "Little questions hanging in the evening like clean washing on the line". I found the story disturbing with the reality of the cards that can be dealt with no choices and no options. It is a story of survival and at the heart is love and some hope.
June 9, 2019
I picked this off the Australian contemporary shelf at the library because I used to read and love Deb Forster’s This Life column years ago in The Age. Knew it would be good. It was. Bleak though beautiful. The dialogue resonated with me - real Australian voices particularly those of Emmett and his long suffering stoic wife Anne. Families and love are a confusing business. Can’t say I can begin to understand how they survived a violent, cruel and tyrannical father yet looked after him and gathered around at the end of his life - Emmett still the centre of their lives. Forgiveness? How? It’s not long since I read The Trauma Cleaner with a similar story of traumatic family life in Footscray.
August 9, 2020
A very impressive book about the harm that adults inflict on children & the scars that remain. The characters are real & believable. The theme that hate is very close to love. Thank you for writing this book it leaves me with a lot to ponder and I'm going to pass it on to my brother.
August 30, 2017
This was a bit slow for me and quite depressing.
January 27, 2019
I had already started this book before I realised (much too late) that it was Australian. I usually shy away from books set in Australia as they tend to be such a stereotype and representative of only the "quintessential Aussie blokey battler".
This book was SOOOOOO Australian (it was actually set around the corner from where I live), and yet it was SOOOOOO much more. It portrayed the stereotypical Australian characterisations and family-life (in a non-cringe-worthy way) but also intertwined it with diverse, rich characters and experiences. More than anything though, it provided a telling insight into the complexity of family life, and how individuals, especially those closest to us, are not ALL good or ALL bad.
Memorable Quotes
This book was SOOOOOO Australian (it was actually set around the corner from where I live), and yet it was SOOOOOO much more. It portrayed the stereotypical Australian characterisations and family-life (in a non-cringe-worthy way) but also intertwined it with diverse, rich characters and experiences. More than anything though, it provided a telling insight into the complexity of family life, and how individuals, especially those closest to us, are not ALL good or ALL bad.
Memorable Quotes
"To some, Australia is Europe distilled, but to Emmett Brown, it's just distance. And that is its strength."
"So, she enters into the roaring, the ripping and the spitting blood. Enters the arena with the old man and remembers the taste of blood and notes with the usual amazement that it tastes of salt, and while the thought passes through her that we are made of the sea, he beats the shit out of her.”
"She might marry him whether or not he's gay, not give him any damn say at all."
"He shows her how to hold him and he's tender. This is the most you can ever ask of men, she reasons, that they seem to care."
"Women, she thinks bitterly, he sees no sense in us at all. You need a penis to be real around here."
"The monster becomes the lamb and through it all her mother has maintained her humanity."
"Sometimes everywhere you look makes you sad and she reminds herself that sometimes sad is normal, sad happens to us all. Sad isn't the end."
"Big thoughts when you feel small."
July 22, 2010
Praise to first time novelist Helen Forster for her sublime portrayal of this Australian suburban family. Growing up in the outskirts of Melbourne Louisa Brown and her siblings endure the daily onslaught of their father’s alcohol fueled rage. Years later, the family gathers for Emmett Brown’s funeral, reflect on their lives and the effects of the long shadow cast by their father.
The Book of Emmet arrived in my hands like a breath of fresh air. Forster’s symmetry and artistry to string words into prose is a pure delight to read. As a writer reading this book, Forster’s talent is nothing short of magic. Retracing the pages, I re-read passages, and underlined so many sentences, no page was intact. I love Forster’s delivery, subtle and effortless in its execution. At no time did the writing feel forced or pretentious.
It’s a privilege to come across such a wonderfully crafted work. It gives me an added pleasure that Forster is Australian and that I, a bookseller, can press this jewel like a cherished gift in to the hands of my customers with the words ‘You’re going to love it.’ And mean it. 5 stars.
The Book of Emmet arrived in my hands like a breath of fresh air. Forster’s symmetry and artistry to string words into prose is a pure delight to read. As a writer reading this book, Forster’s talent is nothing short of magic. Retracing the pages, I re-read passages, and underlined so many sentences, no page was intact. I love Forster’s delivery, subtle and effortless in its execution. At no time did the writing feel forced or pretentious.
It’s a privilege to come across such a wonderfully crafted work. It gives me an added pleasure that Forster is Australian and that I, a bookseller, can press this jewel like a cherished gift in to the hands of my customers with the words ‘You’re going to love it.’ And mean it. 5 stars.
September 15, 2016
I started this book in July, but found it hard going. It is such a distressing story that I had to put it down; I couldn't believe that this dark, hard story of a family ruled by the father could affect me so much that I couldn't bear to read it.
A couple of months later I decided to re-try it; the writing of Deborah Forster is beautiful. If she didn't have such beautiful pictures "She has given up trying to look cool for boys on the bus and now they are as distant as mountain ranges but just as appealing." that I wanted to discover more of these I would have missed a powerful tale.
This is a tough read, because sadly we know children who have lived this life.
Four stars.
A couple of months later I decided to re-try it; the writing of Deborah Forster is beautiful. If she didn't have such beautiful pictures "She has given up trying to look cool for boys on the bus and now they are as distant as mountain ranges but just as appealing." that I wanted to discover more of these I would have missed a powerful tale.
This is a tough read, because sadly we know children who have lived this life.
Four stars.
March 7, 2012
The story of siblings, their bond, and their fight to survive a tyrannical and unpredictable alcoholic father. You can feel the hesitation, uncertainty and fear they face every time they arrive home. While not a terribly nice story, it is arresting in its life-like characters and your desire for them to "win" in whatever way they can. I think a lot of kids raised in our Australian pub culture could relate in some small way to this, not necessarily to the extremes though! One quote that will stay with me: "Brothers and sisters want nothing from you. They know who you are and they love you anyway."
January 5, 2016
A first novel by an Australian journalist. Emmett is a violent father and husband. The book opens with his funeral and the gathering of his wife and adult children. The remaining chapters tell the story of Emmett’s family life – brutal and alcoholic but also with odd moments of joy. Above all, Emmett, in spite of everything, manages to encourage in his children a love of books and education. It is a difficult task to show the better sides of such a violent man and Forster doesn’t quite succeed – but she makes a good job of it. At times the writing is pedestrian – but the characters and their experiences kept my interest.
July 27, 2010
This book got better and better as it went on. The review on the front cover says "gently savage emotional intensity" and it's not wrong. My favourite partis about the lifting of depression on p. 217, including "And the lifting is so gradual, she barely notices but there's a day when she's leaving the house to go to work and she sees the sky and it's as if it hadn't been there all that time, as if it had run away". The author gets right into the heart of depression.
I enjoyed this book very much and look forward to reading more by the same author.
I enjoyed this book very much and look forward to reading more by the same author.
December 20, 2012
A strangely mesmerizing story which becomes more powerful as it unfolds, and in which the writing becomes more powerful and skilled to contain and allow it to unfold. Masterful weaving of different characters in the nuances of their viewpoints, yet the intensity of common experience. Touches of detail make the reality of place and time shimmer with life and shift with ease between lived and remembered sequences. And throughout the constant tension of what is shared and what is silenced in each one and between them. A remarkable piece of writing about a story long past due in the telling.
December 28, 2014
So sad, but I think it missed its mark a little. I don't think it should have been titled "The Book of Emmett". I would have liked to have seen more insight into Emmett's childhood and the reasons why he was like he was, rather than just the story of his family.
Beautifully written, very easy to read and a very enjoyable read. I never had any trouble wanting to pick it up which is refreshing. I would certainly read another of Deborah Forster's books
Beautifully written, very easy to read and a very enjoyable read. I never had any trouble wanting to pick it up which is refreshing. I would certainly read another of Deborah Forster's books
August 29, 2010
A psychologically insightful and often disturbing picture of that most ordinary of suburban monsters, the patriarch. I found this novel more engrossing in the second half, when the eldest daughter, Louie, became the main focus. My favourite line: 'She has given up trying to look cool for boys on the bus and now they are as distant as mountain ranges but just as appealing.'
October 27, 2013
Reminiscent of Joy Dettman, Deborah Forster's debut novel is stark and sparse. Her characters are poignantly drawn and the setting expertly crafted. This is sad, soft journey of a dysfunctional family coming to terms with itself. This tale is neither delightful nor uplifting, it is however a thoroughly rewarding read. A story which reveals its beauty in the harsh reality of its tale.
May 23, 2012
I really enjoyed this book- found it very well written and easy to read and very honest. I could picture everything- the characters, the scenery the emotions. I also wanted to look up some unfamiliar words also...
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August 6, 2011An interesting book which tells of aq family who suffers under their tyrant father.
July 8, 2012
If only Goodreads had half stars - this is better than 3, but not quite up to the standard of other books I've awarded 4 stars.
January 8, 2018
It got better as I kept reading. But it was a bit slow for me.
June 5, 2013
Graphic story set in very hard times in Australia. Sad story but so interesting
January 22, 2015
The violence in this book meant I had to put it down for a bit before picking it up again. It's dark and bracing but the writing is beautiful
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews