There are plenty of books on the market about the writing process. Sue Woolfe’s own Making Stories (written with Kate Grenville) is an excellent and encouraging read for any writer stuck in the wilderness and wondering where it’s all leading. So why another? The Mystery of the Cleaning Lady is not a how-to or workbook, and doesn’t read like a memoir. It is an account of Woolfe’s own struggles writing her award-winning novel The Secret Cure. It’s also an exploration of the creative process itself, and a review of the scientific literature on the subject, particularly in the emerging field of neuroscience. While writing The Secret Cure, Woolfe found herself pondering creativity, which led her through the latest writings on the subject. Unafraid of immersing herself in difficult reading, she looked for clues to illuminate her own working methods, which had until then been largely intuitive. Much of the research is somewhat esoteric (the book originated as a doctoral thesis), but the account of the six-year emergence of The Secret Cure is fascinating. The Mystery of the Cleaning Lady will appeal mainly to writers and fellow explorers of the creative process, and is recommended to libraries and writers’ centres.

Lachlan Jobbins has worked as a bookseller, copy writer and ESL teacher

This review from Australian Bookseller & Publisher magazine is reproduced by kind permission of Thorpe-Bowker, a division of R R Bowker LLC. © Copyright 2008, Thorpe-Bowker

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