The Slap’s action hinges around a Melbourne suburban BBQ. Three-year-old Hugo needs to learn boundaries and his behaviour is fully deserving of the slap he receives. The problem is that it is delivered by an adult who is neither Hugo’s parent nor relative. The reverberations from this incident are far-reaching, affecting friendships, marriages and the dynamics between those who witness it, particularly the eight voices whose individual stories make up the narrative. Through these characters’ lives, we experience the full gamut of 21st-century suburban life. Our protagonists are young and old, of multi-cultural backgrounds, married and single, gay and straight. While the event’s ricochet effects become apparent, they grapple with spousal infidelities; cultural constraints and expectations; alcoholism; the biological clock; parenting; loyalties and conflicts of interest. The Slap is ideal for book clubs. My one caveat in an otherwise enthusiastic endorsement, is Tsiolkas’ prominent use of the ‘c-word’, initially confronting but possibly a vehicle to keep our attention and provoke heightened emotional responses. The language issue aside, The Slap works. It would not be inappropriate to describe it as a contemporary Australian masterpiece, reminiscent of Elliot Perlman’s Seven Types of Ambiguity.

Scott Whitmont is owner of Lindfield Bookshop and Lindfield Children’s Bookshop

This review from Australian Bookseller & Publisher magazine is reproduced by kind permission of Thorpe-Bowker, a division of R R Bowker LLC. © Copyright 2008, Thorpe-Bowker

Tags: christos tsiolkas