Will I love The Trauma Cleaner?

Respectfully, The Trauma Cleaner does not sensationalise the fact that Sandra was a trans woman.

This biography eloquently tells the story of Sandra Pankhurst, who grew up in Melbourne in the 1960’s as Peter. Krasnostein deftly crafts a tale through Sandra’s current career as a trauma cleaner, who cleans up death, helps hoarders, and attacks messes barely a soul would peek at.

Whether it’s through the eye-opening spectrum of vocations Sandra’s experienced or the stark and neglected upbringing she endured, I was shown the many transformations Sandra went through. Sandra freely giving love and acceptance to those we turn away… show more.

I read this book when I was in a slump whilst working on my own and it really inspired me.

The job depicted here is fascinating but the woman carrying it out is doubly so.

Sandra - originally a married with kids man called Peter, who had suffered violence as a child - has been a drag queen, a sex worker, undergone gender reassignment, and takes all of this suffering and rich experience into her work cleaning up death scenes and hoarder houses.

The latter involving working with the damaged living who are often resistant. The human side of her… show more.