The Trauma Cleaner starts the first chapter with the author meeting Sandra, a woman who specializes in cleaning up after deaths, hoarders, meth labs, and other types of squalor. We then move to a scene where Sandra and her team are cleaning up at a mentally ill woman's house. The descriptions are nearly palpable and quite disgusting. The chapters alternate between Sandra's life story (being born a boy, growing up in an abusive environment, transitioning, etc.) and a different type of job that Sandra and her cleaners take on. This book is part biography and part case studies. I found both to be very intriguing. However, towards the last two chapters, the author starts to psychoanalyze Sandra's decisions and motives given what she knows about her upbringing. Additionally, she includes conversations that do not seem important to the story. These were written very poorly and I found myself skimming over those parts. Overall, I gave the book a rating of a 3 out of 5. I enjoyed most of it but felt that it could've been written and edited better.

I'd definitely recommend but if you're at all squeamish, it may not be for you.

I received this book from NetGalley for a honest review.

I was excepting more on the daily life of a trauma cleaner and not the rough life of a woman that was born as a boy and her transformation.

The biography of a remarkable woman (who seems to use the label transsexual; she transitioned decades ago and is apparently quite conservative, for Australia) who runs a business cleaning up homes where people have died and decayed, or where hoarding has created unsafe conditions. Sandra Pankhurst extends compassion to all her clients, making connections with them; Krasnostein interweaves accounts of various cleanup sites with Pankhurst’s history as abused child, young husband and father, sex worker, trophy wife, and ultimately trauma cleaner. She cautions that Pankhurst’s memories are often nonexistent (like many a noir heroine, Pankhurst thinks that the best way to deal with a bad past is to deny it entirely) or at best unreliable, but it’s quite a story nonetheless.

The Trauma Cleaner by Sarah Krasnostein

I’ve never met Sandra Pankhurst before, but thanks to Sarah Krasnostein I was lucky enough to learn her story. Sandra is someone who’s story needs to be told. From everything she had to endure, it is amazing that she is so optimistic and willing to help other people in their downtrodden times.

Before reading this book, I had never heard of trauma cleaning. Who knew that someone has to go in and clean up after a death, or even a hoarding situation that has gone to the extreme. I always assumed that family members took care of those situations. However, Sandra runs a crew to clean up those types of messes with no fear.

To be honest, I did not read the entire description of the book, so I did not see that Sandra began life as a little boy named Pete. However, once I found that information out in the book, it did not deter me from reading. This fact made me love Sandra even more. She truly dealt with some terrible issues from childhood, early adult hood to middle ages. I like to imagine that Sandra was at the prime of her life during the writing of this book; she deserves happiness.

Also, I loved the way that Sarah Krasnostein wrote and characterized Sandra. Krasnostein did not pass judgment onto Sandra, but merely depicted Sandra’s life as if I was personally involved. It even seemed as if Sarah learned some valuable lessons by writing about Sandra. I’ve read some biographies in the past where the writer doesn’t seem to really connect with the individual. It is obvious from reading that Krasnostein did.

I would have enjoyed the book more if it had been about trauma cleaning as physical cleaning. It was much more about getting over emotional trauma than cleaning up trauma scenes (murder, hoarding, etc).

I requested a galley of this book based on two things: the cover and the subtitle. This admission shouldn't be shocking if you know me at all, as the adage "Don't judge a book by its cover" is, for me, one that applies to life but never to books. I am an admitted cover-judger of the highest order and this one got me good. A realistic image of a cleaning glove with a spot of blood on it? Sign me up.

The realism is key here, which leads to the subtitle: One Woman's Extraordinary Life in the Business of Death, Decay, and Disaster. I'm not a huge fan of subtitles, particularly the lengthy variety, but this one does the great favor of telling me exactly what I'm getting. Well, almost. Don't let the word "extraordinary" slip your notice, because this book is both exactly what it says it is and nothing you'd ever expect.

Sarah Krasnostein begins her profile of Sandra Parkhurst with the woman she is today--tall, perfectly coiffed and tethered to an oxygen tank. Sandra is the founder of Specialized Trauma Cleaning (STC) Services Pty Ltd and every day for the past twenty years she has entered homes where "death, sickness, and madness have suddenly abbreviated the lives inside." Sandra's business and her empathetic connection with her clients is fascinating enough to carry the book, yet in the end it's the least fascinating part of the book.

The heart of the story is Sandra and how she became the person she is today, hardened yet compassionate, frustrating yet understandable, unlikable yet lovable. She is an admittedly unreliable narrator due to historic drug use and lifelong trauma, yet she shares openly, accurately or not, with Krasnostein about every detail of her life, no matter how personal.

Alternating between Sandra's history and current professional jobs that present similar to case studies, The Trauma Cleaner is two of the most unlikely stories being woven into one narrative. Yet it works. Sandra's history is necessary to understand who she is today. I'm not going to spoil that here, though the quote below might give a clue, so if you want to remain in the dark, I'd recommend skipping it. Suffice it to say this is one of the most horrific and yet beautiful character studies I've read.

STREET SENSE: There is no one street that fits this one. If you like intense character studies, this is up your alley. If you're more interested in the forensics and trauma scene side, perhaps a bit less so as that is not, nor should it be, the true focus. But since that's how I went into it and came out wowed, I'd still recommend you give it a go.

A FAVORITE PASSAGE: Looking back on this review, I feel as though I didn't highlight how wonderful the writing is. Sandra and her story are so powerful it's easy for the writing to be overshadowed. It shouldn't be, because it's fantastic, but the fact that it's fantastic and still lets the story shine is another reason it's so good. I marked a ton of passages while reading, but settled on the following to share:

It didn’t start at the twenty-buck fuck shops. It didn’t start in the barnlike brothel where the girls roosted like hens, wire on the windows and around the light bulbs to prevent the men from ripping them out of the ceiling. It didn’t start with the boyfriends who stuck around only as long as her money lasted, or with the beatings from the cops who hated boys dressed like girls or with the women who wouldn’t open the door when she stood outside pleading in the dark, naked and bleeding. It didn’t start with any of that. It started when she was a little boy in a small house with a dirt driveway running up along the side.

(See what I mean? SO good.)

COVER NERD SAYS: Perfection. This book is so difficult to summarize and impossible to categorize. The image/subtitle combo was a little stroke of genius.

This was an excellent book that held my attention from start-to-finish. I enjoy (is that the correct word?) reading about the lives of those who go into these lines of work, and there was also an excellent LGBTQ+ angle that was refreshing.

This book was more than I expected. While following the cases of a trauma cleaning service, Krasnostein pieces together the life of the business' owner, Sandra Pankhurst; whose hazy memory shrouds a lifetime of adversity. It's a deeply human story of a woman who has turned her back on her own trauma in order to help others through theirs.

<i>Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the eARC. All views are my own.</i>

*I received this book from NetGally in exchange for an honest review.

This book was excellently written and does a great job of covering Sandra Pankhurst’s life. I rated this book a little lower than I normally would because the title and book blurb was a little misleading. Based on both, I assumed that it would mainly be about Sandra’s life as a trauma cleaner and the experiences she’s had as such. Instead, this was a biography of Sandra’s whole life as a Transgender woman. I would definitely recommend this book as it reveals a very real angle to the struggles and lives of transgender people, especially in the late 20th century. Plus it does have some chapter on Sandra’s best trauma cleaner cases which was a fun way to break up an otherwise very emotionally heavy book.

Having just finished “The Trauma Cleaner” by Sarah Krasnostein, I am happy to have had the chance for the preview; thank you Net Galley!

This was a tough book for me to read, but I stuck with the story because it was a heart-felt account of an extraordinary life. I was truly nauseated by the alternate chapters detailing Sandra’s clients and their chaotic lives. Their stories were vividly descriptive and the revolting surroundings have been stuck in my mind long after I wanted them to be forgotten. I could not have handled an entire book of clean-up scenes, so I really appreciated that Sandra’s life story was mixed between alternating chapters. Even those pages were disturbing, emotional and tough to read.

The following partial quote from one of her client’s; Glenda, sums up how I felt after putting this book down for the last time. Sandra’s story…

“shows the human strength under the most appalling circumstances.”

She is definitely a survivor with compassion for troubled souls.

This story found within the pages of THE TRAUMA CLEANER One Woman’s Extraordinary Life in the Business of Death, Decay, and Disaster was unexpected. I find myself a bit mislead because I wanted this to be about a woman who cleaned up messes and made it easier to cope and move on from the traumatic event of Death what I got was a book about a woman who transitions from being a man to a woman. When I start off my review and say I feel mislead I so not wish anyone to think I am disappointed this is still a three-star read. I find Sandra’s candor refreshing. While helping people deal with there lives and delimas we get a glimpse of who Sandra was and who she wanted to be. If you take anything away from this book I hope that acceptance and self-awareness is what you get. The strength that is depicted in these pages is not something to take lightly. I am so glad to live in a day and age where I can say that people need to do what makes them feel like the best versions of themselves and not give into what society wants them to be. Sarah Krasnostein is very courageous in telling Sandra’s story just as Sandra is amazing for opening up and being herself regardless of the rough road. Rhank you netgalley and all parties for my arc.

The Trauma Cleaner was an extremely interesting read that I very much enjoyed. Sandra's life is dramatic and multi-faceted. The book sheds a light on LGBTQ experiences in Australia during the 70's-90's. I would definitely recommend this book to a friend. After finishing the book, I'm very curious as to the world of trauma cleaning.

Like many reviewers, I was surprised to find that this book was less about the career of trauma cleaning and more about the Sandra's life.
Between the disgusting descriptions of the places that need to be cleaned that leave you wanting to deep clean your home, and the abuse that Sandra faced as a child, it was a bit uncomfortable to read. Definitely something I would/will recommend to people that are looking for some interesting non-fiction. I think the thing that stuck with me the most was the way Sandra treats people and their homes. There was is no home so messy that she would ever be disrespectful to her client. She was able to view these spaces as an uncomfortable extension of the humans. She treated them with kindness and helped them solve their problem. The author even mentioned that Sandra had a storage unit full of home appliances that she would give to some of her clients that needed them. Overall I thought it was a fantastic book.

I found this book a little difficult to read, and it wasn't totally what I had expected. It took me awhile to realize that the main character was trans, and that took the book in a whole different direction for me once I got that figured out. I was more interested in the stories of the crime scenes she cleaned up rather than her personal story, so I found the writing stilted in that regard. I went in with different expectations that weren't totally met. Perhaps at a later time I can revisit the book, but it was still a little odd trying to read it this time around.

This is the story of the life of Sandra Pankhurst, a trauma cleaner. She and her team are sent in to clean up after many different scenarios. This is also the story of Sandra and how she became the woman she is today.

This wasn't quite the story I thought it would be. I was expecting a book about the clean up jobs she has done and there are some stories. But this was more about her personal life. A traumatic childhood and a massive life changing decision to become a woman. It was very raw and real.

An interesting read but not quite the story of hoped for. That being said her life was quite a story in itself.

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, drug labs, hoarding situations of property and/or animals, both current and past, scenes which can be filthy, dangerous and toxic. She knows her stuff like nobody's business and has a crew she manages very efficiently.

The other part of the story is Sandra herself and each of her rebirths she has gone through each time she's had to pick up and start over, what she's gone through getting to where she is in life. It's been a tough road which would have broken a lesser person yet still, Sandra perseveres despite being ill, still trying to help others. It's quite a story and worth reading. An advance copy was provided by NetGalley and the author Sarah Krasnostein for an unbiased review.

St. Martin's Press
April 10, 2018.

horror, crime, lgbt, women

This is essentially two books intertwined. One is about a person who was worse than neglected as a child and never really fit in anywhere, including gender assignment. I think that this saga is the more horrific. The other is about the under appreciated services provided by those who are tasked with cleaning the aftermath of murder, neglect, and more. This is something that few people have to see and smell besides law enforcement and certain types of social workers. The amazing thing is how kind and empathetic Sandra is to the living and the stresses they face despite her own terrible history. I certainly don't mean that her employees are unkind, and I surely couldn't do their jobs. The book is well written, but also very difficult to read because of its content. People need to be aware of the long lasting harm done to some people and also of the incredible people who come in and clean up in unbelievable situations.
I requested and received a free review copy via NetGalley.

The Trauma Cleaner tells the story of Sandra Pankhurst, who runs a company that handles cleaning for traumatic circumstances such as death and hoarding. This biographical narrative alternates between sharing these cleaning experiences and relating Sandra's tumultuous journey to her present career. From an abusive childhood as an adopted boy, to achieving her true identity with sex reassignment surgery, to leaving sex work behind and finding success in several careers, Sandra has had a truly unique life. While it is tough to read about some of the awful experiences Sandra has endured, what shines through is her incredible resilience and the positive impact she has had on others. The narrative is a bit confusing at times, but is an interesting read nonetheless.

[Excerpt...]:
I don’t read many biographies or memories, or really anything in the nonfiction genre. I usually prefer fiction because I like to imagine new worlds and crazy powers and weird situations. But lately I’ve been wanting to diversify my reading habits a little. I go through phases when all I want to read is fantasy, or romance, or horror, and sometimes what I want to read is something very different from the norm. That’s why I requested Sarah Krasnostein’s new novel.

Death, decay, and disaster. TRAUAMA cleaner. This all sounds right up my alley. I love Stephen King (as I probably mention in every blog post), and I do enjoy reading about the ugly side of things (in moderation, of course). So I requested a copy of this book and was looking forward to reading about this woman’s life.
[Full review on my blog!]

Thanks to St. Martin's Press for the copy in exchange for my honest review.

Who else is intrigued by crime scenes? Have you ever wondered who cleans up after the bodies have been taken away and all evidence removed? THE TRAUMA CLEANER is about a woman that made that her business. Author, Sarah Kranostein, brings us into Sandra Pankhurst's life and her business.

Due to the experiences Sandra has had throughout her life there may be parts that won't be for all readers. Sandra's past includes stories of abuse, life as a sex worker, rape, and a sex change operation. Not to mention the crime scenes that she cleans. So this definitely isn't one to read for those that are squeamish.

Krasnostein followed Sandra over the course of four years. She got to observe the cleaning processes at different scenes and got to hear stories on how some of them triggered memories from Pankhurst's complicated past. It was very interesting seeing the scenes from an observer's standpoint as opposed to seeing it directly from the cleaner's eyes. There were some fluidity issues I had, more so the pacing, but otherwise this was an incredibly interesting read. The way life events can lead you to where you are today - Sandra experienced trauma and wanted to help clean up the trauma in other people's homes.

If this line of work intrigues you, then I'd recommend picking this one up. Just remember there are many other topics covered through the stories from Sandra's life.

I give this one 4/5 stars!