Roseghetto is not a happy book, it is a tale of abuse, poverty, self-harm and the sadness and melancholy that grows and thrives from a life full of countless challenges and setbacks. However, as sad as this brilliant debut is, it is also filled with hope. The story is told through the eyes of Shayla, a wonderful character who Jagger gifts to the reader. Shayla grew up in the Rosemeadow Public Housing Estate. Her father sexually abused her and her stepfather abuses her verbally and mentally. Her mother, struggling to get by, also rarely has a good word to say to Shayla, threatening estrangement with every fight.

You cannot help but feel Shayla’s pain and sadness. I felt a bond forming with Shayla, and it only strengthened as her problems multiplied. At times it is heartbreaking to read.

Shayla, while at the heart of the novel, is also a vehicle used by Jagger to bring awareness to important issues that plague many families, particularly those financially troubled and living in public housing; children falling behind at school, struggling from hunger, tired from helping their mother with their infant siblings. Jagger opens my eyes to just how bad some children have it. Awareness is a step to breaking the interminable problems of domestic violence, abuse, and poverty.

In 2019 Jagger won the Heyman Mentorship Award for a writer from a background of social or economic disadvantage. As she grew up in a housing commission estate, I feel that Shayla may be Jagger within the pages and helps this wonderful debut to shine.

Reviewed by Neale Lucas

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kirsty Jagger is a journalist by trade. In 2019, she won the inaugural Heyman Mentorship Award, established by acclaimed Australian author Kathryn Heyman for a writer from a background of social or economic disadvantage. Roseghetto takes some inspiration from growing up in the housing commission estates of Sydney’s western suburbs. This is her first novel.