Description

Lilis family migrated to Australia from Asia when she was a teenager Now in the 1980s shes 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 nearfuture Australia An Asian migrant he fears repatriation and embraces Australian values Hes also preoccupied by his ambitious wife his wayward children and his strongminded 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 monstersracism misogyny and ageismroam through this mesmerizing novel Its reversible format enacts the disorientation that migrants experience when changing countries changes the story of their lives With this suspenseful funny and profound book Michelle de Kretser has made something thrilling and new