The slap

Ata suburban barbecue, « man slaps a child who is not his own, This event has a shocking ricochet effect on a group of” people, friends and relatives, Who are all directly or Indirect! influenced by the slap, In this remarkable novel, Christos Tsiolkas turns his unflinching and all-seeing eye onto that which connects us all: the modern family and domestic life in the twentyfirst century. The Slap is told from the points of view of eight people who were present at the barbecue. The slap and its consequences force them all to question the way they live, their expectations and dreams, their beliefs and desires. ‘Tsiolkas is a true storyteller and a hundred sentences could be plucked from the text to demonstrate his genius for establishing place, mood and character in a handful of words.” What unfolds is a powerful, haunting novel about love, sex and marriage, parenting and children, and the fury and intensity—all the passions and conflicting loyalties—that family can arouse. In its clear-eyed and forensic dissection of the evergrowing middle class and its aspirations and fears, The Slap is also a poignant, provocative novel about the nature of commitment and happiness, compromise and truth.