Review
Thursday, 06 December 2012 17:08
Leave The Wake Behind by Christie Heart: A novel with an album
Written by Michelle Slater (for Crikey News Australia)
Most people have struggled with loss. Others have felt the crushing blows of depression that followed such times.
Singer-songwriter and first time author, Christie Heart, deals with these issues in her novel- Leave The Wake Behind.
Not only a novel, Leave The Wake Behind is an album. The book and the album create a unique symbiosis where the song cannot be separated from the story.
It's exciting times for three creative young women in a Fitzroy share house full of art, music and bubbling coffee pots. They've just finished uni and are kicking it up by playing gigs in Brunswick Street pubs.
Simone is a muso and about to begin her teaching career. She plays in an Irish folk outfit with her housemate Judith who is into clairvoyance and organic gardening. Ellie is a painter on the cusp of fame.
It's in the era when we still relied on answering machines to catch missed calls and before the facebook generation.
The story takes a sudden turn when Simone experiences a heartbreak that sends her into an unshakable depression where she realises that the only way to heal is to leave everything behind.
The characters are taken on an adventure that begins in the back streets of dingy student life and ends up in the Blue Mountains outside of Sydney.
Christie Heart self-published the book with the complementary album which features artists including Janette Geri and Alex Legg. The songs are a musical representation of each chapter and reflect the sentiment of the story.
It's an engaging read and an easy page turner. The scenarios are easy to relate to and the story has no time to stagnate. Heart has managed to create imagery that takes the reader into an exact time and place.
Michelle Slater
VIC, Australia
Journalist, radio announcer and gig pig!
http://michelleslater.wordpress.com/about/

Reader's Comments:
‘Can’t put your book down. Up to part 2. Ignoring 'name withheld'. Eyes too tired to read more (damn!). Great read, totally hooked’ Jude B. 

'I'm bawling my eyes out. Just finished, I love it!' Robyn M

'Hi Christie,
I've finished reading your book. It was really hard to put down! I only started last night and finished it this evening. It flows really well, I like your characters - they seem real and alive and distinguishable [not sure it that is really a word] from each other. Your descriptions are so very vivid I feel that I'm at the place where the actions/events etc are occurring.
Tim M.

'Simone has just bumped into Shane, I'm totally hooked… Book is like a friend, I can't put it down' Harry H.

'Hi Christie,
I just finished your wonderful book (sorry it took so long for me to read it) At the beginning I had some resistance getting started because I haven’t read a novel in 33 years... It was fun hearing your descriptions of so many places in Victoria & Melbourne which I have lost touch with due to my long absence...Congratulations, you have done a wonderful job!' Tony H.

'Just finished I'm still tingling' Dr John

'Thanks for the experience of reading your book.' Chris O'D