"Following Yumna Kassab’s Miles Franklin literary award shortlisted novel The Lovers, comes a moving meditation on endings, departure and the struggle to let go.
When she finally left, like properly totally completely left,
it shouldn’t have come as a surprise.
The signs were there.
Amina's marriage to Amin was supposed to be a new beginning, instead, it became an inescapable end. Even after the divorce, the shadow of their relationship clings to her, defining her life long after they part.
Set within the intricate world of an Arab community, the story of these once-lovers explores the devastating impact of a failed marriage from its heady beginning to its bitter end. From the outset, it’s clear this is a story of departure, yet Amina’s physical leaving is only the very first step.
Like Lot’s wife, forbidden to look back at her razed city, Amina is meant to move forward, but how can she when the past is burned into her soul?
‘that wildly inventive scriptomaniac’ THE GUARDIAN, Australian books to look forward to in 2026"
"LONGLISTED FOR THE MILES FRANKLIN AWARD
A captivating literary journey that delves into the intertwined lives of a town, its people, and a region shaped by revolution and war.
The war broke out and she decided to call her dad.
Weeks and weeks we do not speak, and the weeks become months and then they are so many years.
She imagines herself starting this story.
She imagines how she will tell this story later to someone else.
We hadn't spoken for years but then the war broke out...
As conflict plays out across an unnamed region, its inhabitants deal with the fallout. Families are torn apart and brought together. A divide grows between those on either side of the war, compromises are struck as the toll of violence impacts near and far. We learn about those who are left behind and those who choose to leave in a great scattering. As the stories of those affected play out they weave together to show the whole of a society in the most extreme of circumstances. Even after the last shot is fired, their world will never recover.
From the acclaimed author of The House of Youssef, Australiana and The Lovers comes a powerful new novel that asks again if it’s possible to ever measure the personal cost of war.
‘the real deal’ FAVEL PARRETT, author of Past The Shallows
‘rare it is to read a voice as crisp and authentic as Kassab’ ZOYA PATEL, author of No Country Woman"
"What happens when we become used to each other, when we become bored, when we anticipate each other’s moods like the seasons cycled in a day? What happens when you are tired of me and I tire of you?
Every couple has a story. How they met, how they fell in love – their ups, their downs. What made them want to be in each other's arms day and night. The struggle of family expectations. The need to please each other, the desire to go their separate ways. It is about the private universe between two people as they try to hold to each other despite the barriers of geography, culture and class.
Every couple has a beginning, a middle, and maybe an end.
The Lovers is an enchanting fable that explores the light and dark of a relationship – a love distilled down to its barest form. You might think you know this story. Maybe you do.
‘The real deal’ FAVEL PARRETT, author of Past The Shallows
‘Rare it is to read a voice as crisp and authentic as Kassab’ ZOYA PATEL, author of No Country Woman"
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