Written by an Australian man --- not usually a good portent. The hook was the story line, "at a suburban barbecue, a man slaps a child who is not his own", and the aftermath of that.
A great book, with lots of very surprizing insights. I gave it the extra half point because of all the original truths, but not the full 4 stars as it held my interest all the way through but not enough to make me insist all my friends read it. There's lots of sex, typically male in that way. But you can really see why it needs to be there sometimes for the next part of the story to work.
He writes from the viewpoints of several characters, showing their pain and their humanity. For example, one of the most innocent characters, an Indian veterinarian, has married her husband for his looks, and the marital sex is not very satisfying. Tsiolkas reveals this artfully and something as mundane and shallow as this marriage becomes understandable.
There are several young families, singles, older generations, and ethnic groups represented. I found the inside of an older Greek couples marriage quite interesting. I really think Tsiolkas must be listening to a lot of women to get some of the things in this book. Good for him, he got it.
Not too lucid this morning, not enough practice writing this last year.
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