Cairo

Chris Womersley

‘Chris Womersley’s third novel, Cairo, is as fresh and unexpected as his first two … an accomplished performance from a writer whose advent was dramatic and whose career has consolidated with an impressive power to surprise.’

Peter Pierce, The Australian

‘More straight-talking than John Banville, less tricksy than Julian Barnes, Womersley nonetheless shares their interest in the adult man forged in the flames of intense youthful experience. To this he adds the tension — though not necessarily the moral questions — of crime … Womersley is a master of mood, illustrating dingy but exciting Fitzroy, with lively, tender strokes’

Estelle Tang, The Saturday Age

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‘The author describes his latest book as ‘‘a boy’s coming-of-age tale, with something for everyone: a love story, a bit of betrayal, art forgery and a famous art heist’’. He misses out the most important ingredient: humour. It’s fun and funny. I read it all with a grin on my face.’

Daphne Guinness, The Sunday Age

‘[A] rollicking account of a serious crime and a portrait of 1980s Melbourne … smart, animated, grimy and — most especially — entertaining.’

Patrick Allington, Adelaide Advertiser

‘I think this a funny, brilliant novel, romping through the story of a still unsolved theft seen through the eyes of a country boy at the threshold of life who finds himself swept away by his new friends … This is an instant classic.’

Crikey

‘A delightfully sensitive tale set in that wistful coming-of-age we would all like to revisit.’

Jennifer Byrne, Australian Women’s Weekly

‘A pleasure to read from beginning to end.’

Heather Lunney, Good Reading

‘One of the unrepentantly daring and original talents in the landscape of Australian fiction.’

Sydney Morning Herald

Frustrated by country life and eager for adventure and excitement, seventeen-year-old Tom Button moves to the city to study. Once there, and living in a run-down apartment block called Cairo, he is befriended by the eccentric musician Max Cheever, his beautiful wife Sally, and their close-knit circle of painters and poets.

As Tom falls under the sway of his charismatic older friends, he enters a bohemian world of parties and gallery openings. Soon, however, he is caught up in more sinister events involving deception and betrayal, not to mention one of the greatest unsolved art heists of the twentieth century: the infamous theft of Picasso’s Weeping Woman.

Set among the demimonde — where nothing and nobody is as they seem — Cairo is a novel about growing up, the perils of first love, and finding one’s true place in the world.

Peter Pierce, The Australian

Estelle Tang, The Saturday Age

View all reviews

Daphne Guinness, The Sunday Age

‘[A] rollicking account of a serious crime and a portrait of 1980s Melbourne … smart, animated, grimy and — most especially — entertaining.’

Patrick Allington, Adelaide Advertiser

Crikey

‘A delightfully sensitive tale set in that wistful coming-of-age we would all like to revisit.’

Jennifer Byrne, Australian Women’s Weekly

‘A pleasure to read from beginning to end.’

Heather Lunney, Good Reading

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Details

Format:Paperback

Size: 198mm × 128mm

Extent:304pp

ISBN (13):9781925106626

RRP:$29.99

Pub date:27 May 2015

Rights Held: World

Rights Sold: UK (Quercus), France (Albin Michel), Audio (W F Howes)

High-res cover:Download Image

AWARDS

2015 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award - Long-listed

CATEGORIES / tags

AUTHOR

Chris Womersley

Chris Womersley’s debut novel, The Low Road, won the Ned Kelly Award for Best First Fiction. His second novel, Bereft, won the Australian Book Industry Award for Literary Fiction and the Indie Award for Fiction; was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award, The Age Book of the Year, the Australian Society of Literature Gold Medal and the UK’s Gold Dagger award; and was longlisted for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. Bereft and The Low Road have been translated into a number of languages. Chris’s short fiction has appeared in Granta, The Best Australian Stories 2006, 2010, 2011 and 2012, Griffith REVIEW, Wet Ink and Meanjin; and one of his stories was shortlisted for the BBC International Short Story Award in 2012. He lives in Melbourne with his wife and son. Contact him at www.chriswomersley.com.

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