Lola in the Mirror, Trent Dalton’s latest urban fairy tale is about an unnamed girl –  or more accurately, a girl who does not know her own name. She lives with her mother in a rusty, abandoned car in Brisbane. They are not homeless, they are ‘house-less’, and they make their way each day with time spent in the library, at a drop-in centre, and at the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art Bookshop, where the girl absorbs herself in books about artists.

The girl and her mother were on the run for many years, having escaped ‘…dancing the Tyrannosaurus Waltz’ (a metaphor for domestic violence), but they find people they can trust in Brisbane, and settle there. Her mother begins working for Flora Box, whose fish and chip shop is a front for the real business, dealing drugs.

The story unfolds to include the girl’s dreams of becoming a famous artist; the significance of a mirror; a terrible accident in the Brisbane River; falling in love; and always, the search for her name. It’s a detailed and layered story that concludes with an epic cat-and-mouse chase through the streets of the city (Brisbane is a character unto itself) and all loose ends neatly tied up.

As he did in Boy Swallows Universe, Dalton exposes the ‘seamier’ side of life but also finds beauty there. There’s commentary on the welfare system, the true cost of hosting the 2032 Olympic Games, homelessness, and the violence associated with drugs. I had the nagging feeling that some of this story romanticizes homelessness but I’ll trust that Dalton’s heart is in the right place and instead make mention of the brilliant popular culture references, particularly to music.

Mention must also be made of the illustrations included in this book (done by Paul Heppell), and Dalton’s cameo in his own story –

I take Adelaide Street, where I pass the portable writing desk of a man in a brown hat who spends his days recording the real-life love stories of Brisbane strangers on an old sky-blue Olivetti typewriter. I want to stop and tell him my story, but it isn’t finished yet.

Although I’m wise to Dalton’s tricks – lush language (…I love her more than all the daisies in Denmark and lollipops in London…); complicated down-the-rabbit-hole plots; repeated metaphors; children that break your heart; and abundant elements of magic realism  – that doesn’t mean they’re not fun to read.

I suspect I’ll ultimately tire of this literary trickery, but for now, Lola was a good yarn.

3/5

I received my copy of Lola in the Mirror from the publisher, Harper Collins Australia via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

You see, Detective Jeff, the shit’s really spraying across the fan for them suits up in George Street because now they realise there’s working families with young children living on the streets, not just the usual drunks and drug addicts they never lost a wink over. People are going to start seeing little Joey doing his Mathletics in Pancake Manor every night and they’ll realise he’s not ordering no fuckin’ pancakes.

Everyone has their own pancake recipe but this is the favourite in my house.