Review: The Mushroom Tapes by Helen Garner, Chloe Hooper and Sarah Krasnostein

The trial of Erin Patterson and the horrible, unthinkable crime that she was charged with and eventually convicted of, is one that both horrified and captivated many people, not just in Australia but across the globe. Why on earth would anyone invite their relatives for lunch and poison them? Particularly when there was no obvious motive? In The Mushroom Tapes three Australian authors Helen Garner, Chloe Hooper and Sarah Krasnostein, follow this baffling crime. Each author is acclaimed for their narrative non-fiction, that offers a considerable amount of nuance and depth. Garner most notably with This House of Grief, Hooper with The Arsonist and Krasnostein with The Trauma Cleaner. The tapes form their discussions with each other about the crime. On what they focused on during the trial, what they made of Erin Patterson and how they made sense of it, if at all.

The Mushroom Tapes is a very different take on true crime, focusing on the reactions of the three authors. They do not always agree with one another, but they do come up with some interesting theories and force the reader to look beyond the trial and sensationalist headlines. In places, it does very much feel like I'm there in the room, listening to the three of them talk away about a person and subject that they find both horrifying and fascinating. In some ways it is a bit of a gossip fest, written by people who were actually at the trial and did their research and who find comfort in talking to each other in order to make sense of it all.  

What makes The Mushroom Tapes is the way the authors hold up a mirror to Australian society by showing their very human reactions to the trial--the disgust with the crime, yet the fascination with it, of wanting to know the why's and speculation of how the accused thought she could get away with it. 

Highly recommended. 

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