Synopsis
Breaking Anaphora
Genre: Literary non-fiction.
Word count: 86,770.
Tagline: Can a pesky ghost help heal a mother/daughter relationship in dire straits? Can vicious cycles of abuse ever truly be broken?
Audience: BREAKING ANAPHORA is for anyone who believes in ghosts, breaking cycles, and the healing power of self-love but also appreciates a bit of Aussie rock music, na na na na na na na na thunder!
Nineteen year old Rachel is depressed and forced to do another TAFE course to keep receiving the dole. With just enough cash for bond, she leaves her alcoholic mother and kowtowed father behind in country town Wauchope for the steel city of Newcastle. She moves into decrepit Havelock Hostel with fifty fringe dwellers. Soon she is introduced to The Ghost Of Havelock with an important message for her.
Unconventional therapist, Leona, exposes Rachel’s drinking, smoking, apathy, and midday sleep-ins as becoming just like her mother - a confronting realisation. She gives her the tools and the courage to stand up to the landlady, ditch her vengeful best friend, and confront her mother on the years of emotional abuse. When she attempts to tell her mother how she really feels, her mother reveals her childhood sexual assault. This has a significant impact on Rachel allowing her to finally understand and have empathy for her.
Leona highlights the anaphora in Rachel’s life, the repetition: principal Pringle as a repeat of her critical mother; the work-place bully as so-called best-friend Gretchen in disguise; and her unhappiness with her partner a mirror of the dreaded ex-boyfriend. When she finally admits defeat, Rachel quits her teaching job to fully commit to the inner-work. She’s on a mission to break anaphora.
The sabbatical near North ‘Heaven’ Beach introduces a flirtatious chef, affirmation reps, and the Indigenous Spirit of Dragon Rock all showing her the way to experience life unbridled. Upon meeting her new love interest, Dusty, we discover the twist in the novel – that the ones we need the most are often closer than we think. She and Dusty find they have much in common. But when he travels north for work, doubt creeps in and she fears she may have attracted someone just like her previous partners.
Six months later, Rachel’s mother suffers a severe stroke from which she won’t recover. On her mother’s deathbed, she recites Leona’s mantra: ‘She was doing the best she could with what she knew and believed’. Early the next morning her mother visits her in spirit where, for the first time, unconditional love transpires between them. Rachel works to forge a close relationship with her father offering to move in and help. Together they reminisce and make up for lost time.