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'A dark, funny and subversive memoir about surviving the very worst that life can throw at you, Rosie Waterland's story of her coming of age is a blackly comic Australian memoir for our times and a clarion call for all anti-cool girls everywhere.
'Rosie Waterland is the survivor of one of the most appalling childhoods since Augusten Burroughs. There were rehab stays and AA meetings. There were overdoses, dramas, suicide attempts. There were narrow escapes from drug dealers, not to mention a numerous round of dodgy men in and out of her mother's life. They endlessly moved houses, countries, schools, squats. There was neglect, endless DOCS workers and the occasional abusive foster parent. Rosie and her sisters became Mormon, Catholic, Wiccan, Christian. There was a second marriage and divorce. Rosie watched as her dad passed out/was arrested/vomited/cried. There were frustrated family members with no time for kids. Rosie had to talk her mum out of killing herself and watched as her dad's coffin was lowered into the ground.
'But Rosie is far more than the sum of her parts.
'The quality that lies at the heart of Rosie's appeal is her straight-up, unaffected directness - her ability to say what she really thinks, to call it as she sees it. She's kind of an Everygirl. the Anti-Cool Girl that we all want to be. She's funny, honest and inspirational. She is our Caitlin Moran, our very own Lena Dunham, and she will tell a uniquely Australian story, in only the way that a straight-talking Australian girl can say it.' (Publication summary)
Notes
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Dedication:
For Rhiannon, Tayla and Isabella.
She made each of us, and each of
us is an incredible woman.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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Brittany Higgins’ Memoir Will Join a Powerful Australian Collection Reclaiming Women’s Stories of Trauma. Here Are Four
2021
single work
review
— Appears in: The Conversation , 15 April 2021;
— Review of Eggshell Skull 2018 single work autobiography ; No Matter Our Wreckage 2020 single work autobiography ; The Anti Cool Girl 2015 single work autobiography ; The Girls : A Memoir of Family, Grief and Sexuality 2019 single work autobiography'Brittany Higgins has signed a book deal with Penguin Random House Australia. Not just any book — a memoir.'
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‘First the Misery, Then the Trauma’ : The Australian Trauma Memoir
2017
single work
criticism
— Appears in: TEXT Special Issue Website Series , no. 42 2017;'This article focuses on the trauma memoir as an identifiable type of creative writing. It begins by tracing its popularity, especially in the 1990s, in the process recognising what can be proposed as key works internationally, many of which—but not all—are American, as well as how these texts were received by critics and readers, in order to place the Australian trauma memoir in this broader context. The so-called ‘misery memoir’ is also discussed. As little investigation has focused on the Australian trauma memoir as a form of memoir, this article will profile some (mostly recent) examples of Australian trauma memoir in order to begin to investigate what these texts contribute to our understanding of the trauma memoir as a form of creative writing. This recognises debates over the literary and social value of memoirs.' (Publication abstract)
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The Importance of Not Always Being in Control
2016
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 16-17 January 2016; (p. 35) The Age , 16-17 January 2016; (p. 29)
— Review of Plain-Speaking Jane 2015 single work autobiography ; The Anti Cool Girl 2015 single work autobiography -
Lip Lit : The Anti-cool Girl
2015
single work
review
— Appears in: Lip Magazine 2015;
— Review of The Anti Cool Girl 2015 single work autobiography
-
The Importance of Not Always Being in Control
2016
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 16-17 January 2016; (p. 35) The Age , 16-17 January 2016; (p. 29)
— Review of Plain-Speaking Jane 2015 single work autobiography ; The Anti Cool Girl 2015 single work autobiography -
Brittany Higgins’ Memoir Will Join a Powerful Australian Collection Reclaiming Women’s Stories of Trauma. Here Are Four
2021
single work
review
— Appears in: The Conversation , 15 April 2021;
— Review of Eggshell Skull 2018 single work autobiography ; No Matter Our Wreckage 2020 single work autobiography ; The Anti Cool Girl 2015 single work autobiography ; The Girls : A Memoir of Family, Grief and Sexuality 2019 single work autobiography'Brittany Higgins has signed a book deal with Penguin Random House Australia. Not just any book — a memoir.'
-
Lip Lit : The Anti-cool Girl
2015
single work
review
— Appears in: Lip Magazine 2015;
— Review of The Anti Cool Girl 2015 single work autobiography -
‘First the Misery, Then the Trauma’ : The Australian Trauma Memoir
2017
single work
criticism
— Appears in: TEXT Special Issue Website Series , no. 42 2017;'This article focuses on the trauma memoir as an identifiable type of creative writing. It begins by tracing its popularity, especially in the 1990s, in the process recognising what can be proposed as key works internationally, many of which—but not all—are American, as well as how these texts were received by critics and readers, in order to place the Australian trauma memoir in this broader context. The so-called ‘misery memoir’ is also discussed. As little investigation has focused on the Australian trauma memoir as a form of memoir, this article will profile some (mostly recent) examples of Australian trauma memoir in order to begin to investigate what these texts contribute to our understanding of the trauma memoir as a form of creative writing. This recognises debates over the literary and social value of memoirs.' (Publication abstract)
Awards
- 2017 shortlisted Russell Prize for Humour Writing
- 2016 shortlisted Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) — The Matt Richell Award for New Writer
- 2016 shortlisted Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) — Australian Biography of the Year
- 2016 shortlisted Indie Awards — Nonfiction
