61 pages • 2 hours read
Trent DaltonLola in the Mirror
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2023A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Social Context: Brisbane’s Housing Crisis
Drawing on his own experiences, Trent Dalton delves into Brisbane’s housing crisis in Lola in the Mirror. Like other authors, such as Jeannette Walls in her memoir, The Glass Castle (2005), Dalton tackles the harsh realities of unstable housing. Although Queensland, Australia is considered a desirable place to live, this area, including Brisbane, struggles with an increasing population of unhoused people. Many are currently on social housing waitlists and can remain there for years. Lola shares an example of this in the novel: “June’s been on the social housing wait list for the past two years […]. The apartment blocks are full. The caravan parks are full. The shelters are full” (218-19). June’s situation reflects that of many in Brisbane, which results not just from a shortage of housing but also from steep rental prices and an increase in population. Since 2017, homelessness has risen exponentially, and about 10,000 people in southeast Queensland alone lack permanent shelters (Kruk, Courtney. “Brisbane’s Slippery Slope: From Housing Woes to Skid Row.” Brisbane Times, 4 Mar. 2024). Consequently, many reside in tents or sleep unsheltered along the Brisbane River, which Dalton depicts through Lola’s eyes and experiences.
Despite this crisis, the city of Brisbane is working to alleviate the problem and, in 2022, launched a campaign to end street homelessness. Among those who sleep unsheltered, in 2013, the estimated duration of homelessness was nearly eight years, but this was reduced to less than five years in 2022 (Ranney, Kaitlyn. “Brisbane Zero Reduces the Average Length of Time a Person Experiences Homelessness by 40% with the Help of Real-Time, by-Name Data.” Community Solutions, 22 Mar. 2023). To better understand and support this population, the city gathers by-name data. This focus, paired with an increase in housing, has reduced the duration that unhoused people are sleeping without shelter. Although Lola in the Mirror does not explicitly mention this, Dalton acknowledges the support unhoused people receive through characters like Evelyn Bragg at The Well, a drop-in center. However, plans for an Olympic Village in 2032, as Brisbane will host the Summer Olympics, threaten places like The Well, which could exacerbate the housing crisis.
Art History Context: Picasso, Munch, and Pollock
Dalton explores the influence of famous artists on the protagonist throughout the narrative. Lola is inspired by Pablo Picasso, whose simple titles influence both her artwork and her quest for truth. Additionally, the artist’s Blue Period (1901-1904), when he painted in the titular shade to portray the melancholy and misery he experienced while living in poverty, intrigues her. His subjects were often people experiencing a variety of hardships. Therefore, it is unsurprising that Lola connects to this period, for these are the figures of the world she inhabits, a world imbued with instability, violence, and crime.
In addition to Picasso, a range of other artists influence Lola, including Edvard Munch and Jackson Pollock. Munch’s painting “Evening on Karl Johan Street” (1892) depicts a solitary figure standing alone in a street while a faceless crowd walks past. The piece reflects a time when Munch’s mistress spurned him, and it also represents his separation from society. Lola feels a connection to this piece, as she, too, often expresses her invisibility, which Dalton emphasizes when she stands amid an unphased downtown crowd, arms raised, shouting that she is not seen. Jackson Pollock, an abstract expressionist, is another artist who influences Lola. He once said, “Every good painter paints what he is.” Known for chaotic paint splatters across large canvasses, Pollock portrays that his identity is messy and indecipherable, which matches how Lola feels about herself, manifest in the simple detail that she does not even know her name.
