Cynthia Dearborn is an American writer and academic who followed her heart and moved to Australia to be with her partner, Tricia. She left behind her beloved father, Russ, and loving stepmother, Beth, in Seattle. The Year My Family Unravelled begins with Dearborn receiving news (from her ex no less) of her father’s heart attack. He survived that scare but unfortunately developed vascular dementia in his recovery. Dearborn is an only child and felt compelled to uproot herself from her life in Australia and travel back to Seattle to care for her father.
There is an overt love expressed by Dearborn for her father and yet there is dysfunction simmering not far below the surface. Russ could be obsessive and controlling and physically abusive. Russ’s temper forced Dearborn’s mother to leave, taking Cynthia with her. The mother-daughter relationship was fraught, though, disintegrating completely when Dearborn came out as gay. Her mother slammed the door in her face.
The writing is beautiful, highlighting the poetry remaining in Russ’s brain despite his decline. Sara Teasdale in particular is a favourite. Structurally, Dearborn uses memory as a bridge between father and daughter: as the tide of his memory ebbs, hers flows.
Dearborn needs to move her parents into appropriate accommodation. Russ refuses to move. Then Beth is diagnosed with lung cancer. Her only child, Kev, becomes aggressively overprotective, moving Beth into his home. Russ and Beth love each other but are poles apart: Beth can’t see past her cancer diagnosis and Russ’s dementia means he can’t grasp what is happening. Money becomes a huge issue between the two sides. Life, Dearborn says, is ‘a patchwork of confusions and delusions’. Meanwhile, back in Sydney, Tricia waits …
Reviewed by Bob Moore
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Cynthia Dearborn grew up in the US, Scotland, Germany and Italy, eventually settling in Seattle, where she worked as a barista before gaining a Master’s in TESOL. After migrating solo to Australia, she earned a PhD in applied linguistics, and taught at the University of Technology Sydney and then at The University of Sydney, where she currently holds an Honorary position. As Cynthia D Nelson, she is the author of numerous academic publications. Her play, Queer as a Second Language, has been performed to acclaim in Australia, Japan, the UK and the US. Her poem sequence ‘The Darmstadt Year’ was shortlisted for Australia’s prestigious Newcastle Poetry Prize.
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