Reviewed by Penny Holliday

One Foot Wrong is Australian writer Sophie Laguna's first foray into adult fiction adding to her brief but impressive portfolio. In this novel we are immersed into the world of Hester, an only child whose conception was considered a mistake by her parents and is punished for simply being. Denied parental affection, she creates an alternate childhood of inner beauty and meaning. The book's cover provides an insight into the content to follow. Muted black with fragile, childlike drawings, some are quite primitive, while others are more sophisticated and detailed. Here is a pictorial sense of Hester's mind, and the fractured lens through which she perceives the world.

When we first meet Hester, she is a young girl growing up in a house run like a religious order. Her perception of the world is shaped by the fanatical beliefs of her parent and the abuse they inflict upon her. Denied love and affection, except from Cat, Hester's mind develops along its own unique path. Inanimate household objects such as door, spoon and axe become imaginary companions providing Hester with some sense of place and belonging. Tree in the backyard, fills a form of maternal need left void by Hester's mother.

Language is used by Hester as one might read an instruction manual; it is both mechanical and brief, yet manages to convey a great deal of meaning. Hester refers to her mother as "Sack" and her father as "boot", and when describing her father's smile she says, "His mouth curled up at the sides" (21). This lack of emotion and feeling perplexes her father, whose fleeting kindness is overshadowed by his later actions. As a result, Hester is considered to be "slow" by her parents and teacher, a perception that shapes the latter course of her life.

Laguna challenges us to consider why some people might behave the way they do by demonstrating how trauma experienced as an adult may stem from an abusive childhood. The story also promotes tolerance, for how could a child who is forbidden to laugh ever hope to comply with what society expects as "normal" behaviour? As an adult, Hester finds a space where she can be without prejudice or harm. And here, the need to respect the needs of other human beings no matter how different they are resonates strongly.

The voice in this narrative is believable and poetic in its simplicity. It possesses a raw matter-of-factness that brings to mind Nike Bourke's The Bone Flute. The reader is drawn into a world of heartache and at times despair, but the author provides her female heroine with a quiet dignity, despite themes of sexual abuse, incest and violence. For me the only disappointment in One Foot Wrong comes in the final scene with Hester's parents; I won't spoil it by discussing what happens, but I do feel the tempo picked up a little too fast, throwing the rhythm and becoming out of sync with the tone.

One Foot Wrong will at times take your breath away. Should I go on? What next? Keep breathing and this story submerges the reader into Hester's unique world, the darkest yet most poignant Alice in Wonderland imaginable. Despite everything that Hester experiences, she manages to survive and believe in human kindness. Ultimately, this is a book of hope, and will add even more capital to Sophie Laguna's name.


One Foot Wrong
(2008)

by Sophie Laguna
Allen & Unwin
ISBN: 9781741753981
249pp AUD$24.95