In all these cases, the subject’s significance is already well established before the book is published: readers know the outline of their story, and expect the biography to fill in the details of that sketch. Often, their faces are familiar from magazines and newspapers or the evening news.

They are sports stars, musicians, politicians, actors, war heroes, artists, businesspeople (even, increasingly, YouTube stars). Their subjects have achieved some level of fame or infamy their notoriety may derive from pre-existing celebrity, from attaining great success in their field, perhaps even from criminal activity. There are several types of narrative that currently dominate the biography genre. Kara Nicholson is part of the online Readings team.Sandra Pankhurst. Glenda replies, ‘anything which shows human strength under the most appalling circumstances helps me to survive’. After spotting books by Grossman, Frankle and Charriere among the squalor of the home of one client, Glenda, Krasnostein asks about her reading preferences. She hopes this book will cleanse a little trauma from Sandra’s life through the very act of telling her story: giving her life a narrative and cohesion it has been missing, and sorely needs in order to create memory and meaning. Krasnostein is an astute observer of human nature and her understated yet elegant prose is reminiscent of Helen Garner. Homes where the ‘smell is so strong it felt like a slap’ and where otherwise intelligent people live amidst decades of rotting garbage. Krasnostein uncovers Sandra’s story bit by bit as she travels with her to the homes of her clients, who are in need of ‘trauma cleaning’ of their own, both physical and mental. Born a boy in 1950s Melbourne, Sandra lived through an abusive childhood and a failed marriage with children, before beginning her life again as a drag queen, prostitute and gender reassignment patient in the 1980s. What she hears is an incredible story about a woman who has survived neglect, abuse and violence, yet manages to remain compassionate to her clients, who have traumas of their own. Krasnostein is fascinated at the existence of these kinds of services and is particularly intrigued about the nature of the person who would perform them, so she contacts Sandra for an interview. Sandra’s business card advertises ‘specialised trauma cleaning’: ‘hoarding and pet hoarding’ and ‘homicide, suicide and death scene’ are just two of the many services listed.

Writer and lawyer Sarah Krasnostein first met Sandra Pankhurst at a conference for forensic support services.

The Trauma Cleaner by Sarah Krasnostein