The Trauma Cleaner, Sarah Krasnostein
The Trauma Cleaner, Sarah Krasnostein
List: $19.95 | Sale: $13.97
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The Trauma Cleaner
One Woman’s Extraordinary Life in the Business of Death, Decay, and Disaster

Author: Sarah Krasnostein

Narrator: Rachael Tidd

Unabridged: 9 hr 17 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/10/2018

Synopsis

Before she was a trauma cleaner, Sandra Pankhurst was many things: husband and father, drag queen, gender reassignment patient, sex worker, small businesswoman, trophy wife. But as a little boy, raised in violence and excluded from the family home, she just wanted to belong. Now she believes her clients deserve no less.A woman who sleeps among garbage that she has not put out for forty years. A man who quietly bled to death in his living room. A woman who lives with rats, random debris, and terrified delusion. The still life of a home vacated by accidental overdose.Sarah Krasnostein has watched the extraordinary Sandra Pankhurst bring order and care to these, the living and the dead―and the book she has written is equally extraordinary. Not just the compelling story of a fascinating life among lives of desperation, this is also an affirmation that, as isolated as we may feel, we are all in this together.

About Sarah Krasnostein

Sarah Krasnostein is a writer and a lawyer with a PhD in criminal law. A fourth generation American and a third generation Australian, she has lived and worked in both countries.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Valerity (Val)

You'll just have to read this one for yourself to understand. It's a multi-layered tale about Sandra Pankhurst, who is nearly impossible to describe without just writing a book about her, as the author has done. She's currently running a business that cleans up crime scenes of all kinds, disasters,......more

Quotes

“A transgender former prostitute cleans up the fetid houses of the psychotic, the hopeless and the murdered. Sounds like some dubious TLC special, but it’s a fascinating bio of Sandra Pankhurst…Revelatory.”

People

“A one-of-a-kind biography…[Pankhurst] most valuable of her services—the nonjudgmental respect and compassion she shows to clients living and dead.”

New York Times

“Playful yet heartfelt…one of the most arresting works of biography you will read in a long time.”

Guardian (Sydney)

“This fascinating Australian book…[is] a story that deserves a wider audience…Pankhurst’s warmth and compassion makes this the rare feel-good true crime book.”

CrimeReads

“Rachael Tidd’s voice shines in Sandra’s quick snippets of dialogue, bringing her to life in that special way only audiobooks can.”

BookRiot (audio review)

“Absolutely stunning.”

PopSugar

“Through countless encounters with the fetid, the neglected, and the downright tragic, Parkhurst has found meaning and peace, and Krasnostein a singular subject whom she approaches with well-deserved awe.”

Booklist (starred review)

“An extraordinarily impressive debut, in terms of both quality of writing and treatment of the subject matter…Krasnostein handles her material with respect, grace, and compassion.”

Sydney Morning Herald

"[Pankhurst’s] story is probably one of the most touching, thoughtful, and thought-provoking you will ever read…Sarah Krasnostein tells it with moving compassion, even love.”

New Zealand Herald

“A wondrous portrait of an inspiring character.”

Saturday Paper (Australia)

Awards

  • Victorian Premier’s Literary Award
  • Australian Book Industry Award
  • New York Times Pick
  • ALA Listen List for Outstanding Audiobook Narration
  • Wellcome Trust Book Prize
  • National Biography Award
  • iBooks bestseller
  • BookRiot Pick
  • CrimeReads Pick
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