“Lenny Marks seldom found herself unprepared. Lessons for her grade five students were religiously compiled a fortnight in advance, her tax return would be ready to submit no later than the fifteenth of July every year and her home fire escape plan was reviewed and updated each summer. She found tremendous peace in this level of organization, which was as close to happiness as Lenny Marks ever planned to be. Happiness, she knew, was unstable and quite unreliable.”
Those are some lines from the opening of Kerryn Mayne’s novel Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder. Thirty-seven year old Lenny lives by herself and keeps to herself. She has a schedule of meals she eats while she watches reruns of "Friends" and plays Scrabble with an imaginary Monica roommate. She owns 36 copies of The Hobbit. Outside of the students and faculty at the school where she teaches, her only interactions are with her foster mother and Ned who works at the grocery where she shops twice a week.
This is how she keeps herself stable until she receives a letter from the parole board asking her to comment on the pending release of her stepfather after serving time for 25 years. The letter slowly releases from her subconscious the awful events of her past that changed her life forever. Maybe now she can begin to heal with the help of a few people that care for her. But how will she handle seeing her stepfather again?
This is a well-written story about a unique character. Once you start it you won’t be able to put it down.
If you’re looking for a story about a likable character who works through remembering a traumatic childhood event, then you must read Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder by Kerryn Mayne.
