Finalist for the 2022 Kirkus Prize for Fiction
Shortlisted for the 2022 Miles Franklin Literary Award
Shortlisted for the 2023 Rathbones Folio Prize
Longlisted for the 2022 Gordon Burn Prize (UK)
A profoundly original exploration of racism, misogyny, and ageism--three
monsters that plague the world--this novel from a beloved and
prize-winning author is made up of two narratives, each told by a South
Asian migrant to Australia
"When my family emigrated it felt as if we'd been stood on our heads."
Michelle de Kretser's electrifying take on scary monsters turns the
novel upside down, just as migration has upended her characters' lives.
Lili's family migrated to Australia from Asia when she was a teenager.
Now, in the 1980s, she's teaching in the south of France. She makes
friends, observes the treatment handed out to North African immigrants,
and is creeped out by her downstairs neighbor. All the while, Lili is
striving to be A Bold, Intelligent Woman like Simone de Beauvoir.
Lyle works for a sinister government department in near-future
Australia. An Asian migrant, he fears repatriation and embraces
"Australian values." He's also preoccupied by his ambitious wife, his
wayward children, and his strong-minded elderly mother. Islam has been
banned in the country, the air is smoky from a Permanent Fire Zone, and
one pandemic has already run its course.
Three scary monsters--racism, misogyny, and ageism--roam through this
mesmerizing novel. Its reversible format enacts the disorientation that
migrants experience when changing countries changes the stories of their
lives. With this suspenseful, funny, and profound book, Michelle de
Kretser has made something thrilling and new.
"Which comes first, the future or the past?"
