Cairo (novel)

Last updated
Cairo
Cairo Cover low res.jpg
First edition
Author Chris Womersley
Country Australia
Language English
Publisher Scribe
Publication date
2013
Pages304
ISBN 9781925106626
OCLC 850395771

Cairo is a 2013 novel by Australian author Chris Womersley. [1] It is Womersley's third novel. [2]

The novel takes its name from Cairo Flats, a heritage-listed apartment building in Fitzroy, Victoria. [1] [3]

The novel is presented as a reminiscence of "Tom Button", a boy from rural Victoria who inherits an apartment in Fitzroy from a bohemian aunt. Tom is accepted into a circle of artists and musicians, centred around Max and Sally Cheever, a couple who live in unit 28 of the Cairo Flats. [1] Tom is drawn into a circle that would perpetrate the Theft of The Weeping Woman from the National Gallery of Victoria and would sell it to relocate to France. [1]

The novel includes a number of actual places and venues on Brunswick Street, Fitzroy and in the suburb: Punters Club, the Black Cat cafe, Polyester Records and Rhumbarellas. [4]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Tang, Estelle (31 August 2013). "Bohemia and the art of theft in Fitzroy". The Sydney Morning Herald . Retrieved 25 January 2018.
  2. "Books and Arts- Chris Womersley's Cairo". ABC Radio National . Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 9 September 2013. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
  3. Sosnowski, Marika (24 October 2013). "The Cairo building, Fitzroy". Overland . Retrieved 27 January 2018.
  4. Gruber, Fiona (1 November 2013). "Chris Womersley's world of mullets, music and Coco Pops at the Black Cat". The Guardian . Retrieved 27 January 2018.