Australian Gospel – A Family Saga
by lechblaine
Michael and Mary Shelley were glamorous Sydney socialites, who became Christian fanatics and kidnappers. Three of their children – Steven, John and Hannah – were secretly placed into foster care with my parents, Lenore and Tom Blaine. The Shelleys were apocalyptically irritated to discover that the children of God had been fostered by working-class Queensland publicans.
“The fat, liquor-swilling Blaines brainwashed our children into boring, sports-obsessed Australians, with no intellect or finesse!” wrote Michael Shelley in his manifesto.
Dad used to say: “Jesus really opened a can of worms, mate.” Mum used to say: “I’m going to write a book about the Shelley Gang one day.” Due to illness, she never got the chance. So I wrote it for her. It has taken me eleven years to finish. I interviewed hundreds of people. Now whittled down into a family saga about the tangled fates of two couples and the children trapped between their beliefs.
The book is called Australian Gospel. You can get it here or at your local bookshop. I’m donating $1 from the sale of each book to the Pyjama Foundation, a charity that provides mentorship and literacy programs to foster kids.
Here’s some early endorsements:
“The astonishing tale of a foster family created and held together by ferocious love, laughter and courage. What makes a real family? Whose rights should triumph in battles over a child? Which inheritances can we escape, and which will haunt us forever? All this is explored in an irreverently joyful family saga you’ll never forget.” – Charlotte Wood
“Wild applause. Brave, funny and true.” – David Marr
“This is the new benchmark for the quintessential Australian epic. I lost count of how many times I laughed and cried. If I was a believer, I’d say that Lech Blaine’s writing is godlike. Then again, it’s something better than that; enchantingly human.” – Grace Tame
“Fact is stranger than fiction but it never arrives fully formed. We need writers like Blaine to do that for us. Here he delivers a rollicking, insightful and moving account of the everyday heavens and hells we make for ourselves, and each other.” – Sarah Krasnostein
“An extraordinary true story, beautifully told.” – Tim Minchin
Lech Blaine 
Absolutely loved the excerpt featured in the Good Weekend magazine! In such a short read, I am left in awe of Lenore and Tom Blaine and excited for your growing “B-L-A-I-N-E” family tree! I am looking forward to reading this!
I have just heard the podcast and I’m not surprised at the fear and lengths to remain hidden that your parents went to to protect their adopted children. I met Michael and Kate ( as she was called then) in April 1983 when they stayed overnight on their walk around Australia ( or at least WA) . They scared both my husband and I so much that I said NO MORE HITCHHIKERS. Congratulations to you all for overcoming the trauma of your childhoods
Thank you so much Lech for the book – I bought it after The Project feature. It was so therapeutic for me. We had Michael and Mary stay in our house for a night in the mid 90’s and experienced the trauma when they left which has remained to the present. Reading similar stories from others, as well as learning their background, helped me let go of some of the hurt and personalization of their letters to me and our family and provide some closure. The book was written so sensitively and non-judgementally considering the chaos they created and was a good read (apart from having to deal with the triggers!)