Learned Behaviours

'Storytelling at its most gripping, a gaze at its most unflinching... A mystery that twists the genre's tropes to excavate injustices and the mythologies of guilt and innocence that fuel them-layer by layer, truth by uncomfortable truth.' - Sara M Saleh, author of Songs for the Dead and the Living

'A clear-eyed and deeply moving exploration of past injustice, privilege, and belonging. Zeynab Gamieldien lays bare what it is to inhabit two worlds in contemporary Australia: slipping in and out of your skin to navigate the spaces you are granted entry to and perpetually second-guessing the rules of admittance.' - Dinuka McKenzie, author of The Torrent

'Compelling, complex and even chilling. Learned Behaviours is a concentrated look into the murderous cycle of stereotypes. Yet, within its pages of crime and consequence lies a quiet defiance - the possibility of unlearning, reclaiming, and rupturing that very cycle. A thrilling and thought-provoking read.' - Winnie Dunn, author of Dirt Poor Islanders

'In a moving and compelling portrait of how we learn and unlearn what we think we know of the world, Learned Behaviours succeeds as a mystery novel, a meditation on class, drive and prejudice, and as a story of love and connection. Gamieldien's characters, so intimately and honestly drawn, will get under your skin and stay there.' - Martine Kropkowski, author of Everywhere We Look

'A compelling new novel filled with a genuine sense of mystery, set against a western Sydney backdrop.'- Amani Haydar, author of The Mother Wound