Australian Gospel: A Family Saga

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Michael and Mary Shelley are Christian fanatics who loathe their fellow Australians - especially their '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, sports-obsessed home.

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

Australian Gospel is the true story of Lech Blaine's family, a stranger-than-fiction tale that is heartbreaking, hilarious and altogether astonishing.

'The astonishing tale of a foster family held together by ferocious love and courage. What makes a real family Whose rights should triumph in battles over a child Which inheritances can we escape, and which will haunt us forever All this is explored in an irreverently joyful family saga you'll never forget.' Charlotte Wood

'An extraordinary true story, beautifully told.' Tim Minchin

'Wild applause. Brave, funny and true.' David Marr

Author Bio

Lech Blaine is the author of the memoir Car Crash and the Quarterly Essays Top Blokes and Bad Cop. He is the 2023 Charles Perkins Centre writer in residence. His writing has appeared in Good Weekend, Griffith Review, The Guardian and The Monthly. His latest book is Australian Gospel.