Title: One Day I’ll Remember This: Diaries Volume II 1987-1995

Author: Helen Garner

Publisher: Text Publishing; 2022  

Review: Frank Thompson, Ballarat Writers Inc. Book Review Group

The name Garner came up recently in relation to a celloist at this year’s CresFest.  A friend suggested the celloist was probably Helen Garner’s daughter. And then went on to reminisce about life in inner Melbourne suburbs in the late sixties and early seventies, suggesting she knew people like the characters in Helen’s debut novel, Monkey Grip.

I vaguely remembered the name and must confess I have not read any of her actual works. With my curiosity piqued, I couldn’t resist the Helen Garner diary I spotted in a favourite bookshop. This review is mostly about that diary, which as it turns out is the middle volume of a three-volume set covering Helen’s life from 1978 to 1998*.

The three diaries are similar in layout, arranged chronologically, though the individual entries are not dated.  Various characters are represented by a single capital letter. A couple of notable people, such as fellow writer Elizabeth Jolley, are mentioned by name – is this name dropping? And some people, such as members of Helen’s family, are referenced by their relationship, e.g., ‘My Sister’ (which is confusing because I believe she has four sisters).  

The diaries are written as a series of slivers of Helen’s life, each presented separately. Not simple jottings or notes but vignettes – dreams observations, anecdotes, meetings and assignations, conversations had and overheard (two young lads talking on a tram) – all very personal and revealing.

At first the entries seem a random selection, with no context. The absence of a timeline accentuates this impression. Some entries are linked, dealing with the same topic and run through the three books – Helen’s relationship with V, for example. This thread goes from early meetings, to growing involvement, to marriage and finally to separation.  It gives the books a story with momentum.

Discussing Monkey Grip

@ The Wheeler Centre

While these diaries are revealing, I would not call them a warts-and-all disclosure, certainly not grubby, no bleeding hearts or character assassinations. One cannot help wondering if much editing and filleting was done to the original handwritten entries.  

I found the writing to be deceptively simple, everyday words exquisitely arranged, affording intimacy and familiarity. Perhaps why I’m using Helen and not Garner.

Diaries contain one’s innermost thoughts and observations, windows to the inner workings of one’s life. Perhaps, reading other people’s stirs the hidden voyeur in us. The opportunity to see what really goes on behind a public image. And these diaries are about Helen’s life, there is not a lot of talk about her writing: a few entries and snippets here and there. I guess writing for a writer is work, not life.

I enjoyed reading these diaries especially the middle one. Not just for what I learned about Helen but for what I learned about myself. And those lessons … well, you will have to wait and see if I publish my diaries.

* The others being Yellow Notebook: Diaries Volume I 1978-1987 and How to End a Story: Diaries Volume III 1995-1998