The Mother Wound

Judges' Comments 

A young lawyer is confronted by the violent death of her mother, stabbed repeatedly by her father, after 28 years in an unhappy and emotionally abusive marriage. Within months, the author goes into labour with her first child. This experience is framed by another murder, that of her maternal grandmother, shelled while fleeing a raid on her home village in southern Lebanon. A searing and significant account of domestic abuse within an immigrant family, the writing is beautifully restrained, nuanced, and devoid of melodrama. Through her professional vocation, the author also explores the state of Australian non-violence advocacy and activism, together with the effects of local cultural and religious stereotypes.