Fallen: A Memoir (Rochelle Siemienowicz, Affirm Press)

Best known for her film criticism, Melbourne-based writer Rochelle Siemienowicz explores her personal life in this thought-provoking memoir about religion, marriage and sexuality. As its title suggests, Fallen charts Siemienowicz’s self-described downfall, away from ‘the ideals of eternal monogamous love’, which marched her into marriage at the age of 20, to her attempts to save her relationship by agreeing to that most unconventional of arrangements—an open marriage. Her memoir explores the same themes of intimacy addressed in Nikki Gemmell’s novel The Bride Stripped Bare and Lynn Barber’s memoir An Education, but the real appeal of Siemienowicz’s story comes from the juxtaposition of her burgeoning sexuality with her strict Seventh Day Adventist upbringing. While Siemienowicz does chart the shedding of her former beliefs, this is not just another ‘losing my religion’-type memoir. In fact, one of the strongest aspects of Siemienowicz’s writing is the way she has retrospectively incorporated her musings on religion into the story of a particularly turbulent period of her past. This is an honest representation of one young woman’s experiences.

Jennifer Peterson-Ward is a communications professional and professional writing academic