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Having earlier been awarded the Commonwealth Writers’ Award book of the year, Christos Tsiolkas’ The Slap received the Australian Book Industry book of the year in June.
At a suburban barbecue, a man slaps a child who is not his own. This event has a shocking ricochet effect on a group of people, mostly friends, who are directly or indirectly influenced by the event. Christos Tsiolkas turns his unflinching and all-seeing eye on to that which connects us all: the modern family and domestic life in the twenty-first 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 their own families and the way they live, their expectations, beliefs and desires. 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 beliefs - that family can arouse.
The Slap is Tsiolkas’ fourth novel. His first, Loaded (1995), was adapted for the screen by Ana Kokkinos under the title Head On. The film, starring Alex Dimitriades, won a slew of awards both in Australia and at international film festivals. Dead Europe, written in 2005, received The Age book of the year.
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