Melodrome

Lerena Dost is a dominant and successful woman until she and her psychoanalyst Suano Botilecue cross an ethical boundary and are disgraced, after their sexual relationship is made known. Both lose everything.

Then, a chance encounter with a mysterious woman in an elevator plants a number in Lerena’s mind, which she plays in the lottery and wins. She decides that she will not touch her new fortune until she can reward her benefactor, who turns out to be none other than Dona Munava, the famed leader of a spiritual cult hidden away in the countryside far from the city.

Lerena and Suano set out on a road trip to find her, travelling across the Panoramic Delta, a futuristic world strangely like our own, but with its details, its settings, and even its language altered in unexpected ways.

The author’s musical and inventive style, brilliantly translated by Chris Andrews, creates a hallucinatory atmosphere, in which the one-time lovers relive their relationship, and confront its consequences.

"Melodrome delivers a surreal ride, prompting reflection on issues from climate change to neoliberal capitalism. It also provides an exciting model for Australian writers and readers when it comes to the literary rewards that can be found by taking stylistic risks." – The Saturday Paper