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Joey is young, indifferent. He’s drifting around Western Sydney unaware that his passivity is leading him astray. And then one day he is involved in a violent crime, one that threatens to upend his life entirely.
Elaine, his grandmother, is a proud Lebanese woman with problems of her own. When Joey is arrested, she is desperate to save face and hold herself together. In her family, history repeats itself, vices come and go, and uncovering long-buried secrets isn’t always cathartic.
This gripping and hard-hitting novel reveals the richness and complexity of contemporary Australian life and tests the idea that facing consequences will make us better people.
Author: George Haddad
Paperback Published 3 May 2022 280 pages
‘Worlds collide in this novel: the values of older migrants with those of their children, the pressure of deference with the longing for freedom, hipness versus authenticity. All this suffuses the writing with an urgency and tension that makes it sizzle on the page ... Losing Face is captivating Australian fiction.’ -Books+Publishing
‘At a time when we need narratives that require more of us than comfort George Haddad's writing delivers. His is a refreshing and challenging voice. Haddad is the remarkable storyteller I have been waiting for.’- Tony Birch
‘In this gorgeous, gripping novel, George Haddad has imagined the lives of unforgettable characters, and examined what he’s found in them with compassion and grace. Stunning and rigorous, warm, moving and sharp, this is a surprising story by a brilliant writer that contributes something new to the way we look at families, mothers, and boys.’- Ronnie Scott