Homecoming
By (Author) Adib Khan
HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty Ltd
Fourth Estate
30th March 2005
Australia
Tertiary Education
Fiction
A823.3
Paperback
290
Width 140mm, Height 198mm, Spine 19mm
202g
Martin Godwin is a man alone. Divorced from his wife, in an uneasy relationship with his son, and with complicated, guilty feelings towards his lover, Nora, he is also a veteran of Vietnam, haunted by the fear that his exposure to dangerous chemicals such as Agent Orange has triggered his son's depression and haunted too by the events of one sweltering afternoon during a raid on a village. These memories become more urgent when an old soldier comes calling, asking for Martin's silence as he establishes a political career. This powerful novel winds the strands of Martin's life - father, comrade, lover, unwilling conspirator and reluctant spiritual searcher - into a seamless and compelling whole. Through its lens we are given a snapshot of contemporary Australia, groping towards meaning in a rapidly changing world.
Adib Khan divides his time between Ballarat and Melbourne. He was born in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and came to Australia in 1973. His first novel, SEASONAL ADJUSTMENTS, won the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction and the 1995 Commonwealth Writer's Prize. He is also the author of SOLITUDE OF ILLUSIONS, THE STORYTELLER and HOMECOMING.