Body Friend

A beautiful exploration of the phenomenology of pain and what it means to adjust to chronic illness.
In Melbourne, our nameless narrator is recovering from a severe flare up of an autoimmune condition (something akin to rheumatoid arthritis) as she awaits, and then recovers from, surgery.

Katherine Brabon's writing is understated but weaves a powerful meditation on our relationships to our body and the tension between effort and activity versus rest and comfort. This internalised conflict is played out into the protagonist's relationship with two “friends” Frida and Sylvia, who appear to be somewhat inspired by women creatives familiar with the theme of the female body and pain: Frida Kahlo and Sylvia Plath.

The voices of Frida and Sylvia urge rest and action as the solution to health in a cyclical tug of war very familiar to anyone who lives with a condition that causes chronic discomfort. Also familiar: themes of guilt, shame, and the tyranny of the “shoulds” that so many of us living in female bodies feel in relation to our embodied behaviours and actions.

Four and a half stars rather than four because this literary voice is so needed and welcome and unique.