A portrait of a vanishing world, and a love story for the ages - from the award-winning author of Lucky's.
In the fading glow of Australia's print journalism era, The National is more than a newspaper: it's an institution, and the only place that George Desoulis has ever felt at home. A world-weary subeditor with a bookish sensibility and a painful past, George is one of nature's loners.
But a late-night encounter with an unorthodox and self-assured reporter, Cassandra Gwan, begins to unravel both of their carefully managed worlds. As the decline of the newspaper enters a desperate stage, George and Cassandra struggle to balance their turbulent relationship with their responsibilities to family, and the compromises each has built their life upon.
With a deft wit and a sharp eye for emotional complexity, Pippos examines the stories we tell ourselves, and the ways people handle grief, guilt and generational change. The Transformations is a novel about endings - of dreams, relationships, institutions- and the chance of new beginnings.
About the Author
Andrew Pippos is a Sydney writer who lectures in creative writing at the University of Technology Sydney. His writing has appeared in Meanjin, The Sydney Review of Books, Catapult and Electric Literature. His novel, Lucky's, won The Readings Prize for Australian Fiction, and was shortlisted for the 2021 Miles Franklin award, and the Prime Minister's Literary award.
Industry Reviews
PRAISE FOR THE TRANSFORMATIONS
'Andrew Pippos is one of Australia's best novelists. The Transformations shows his perfect emotional pitch, his gift for folding big things into small baskets of domestic life in prose that goes straight to the heart. Who knew he could write another novel as good as Lucky's? Here it is.' - MALCOLM KNOX
'In this intelligent, disarming and capacious novel, Andrew Pippos pulls the covers back on the public and private self. As we follow the gloriously messy lives of George, Cassandra and Elektra, we're reminded that the antidote to solitude lies in what we long for or desire. With its mysterious undertow, its delight in human fallibility, its backdrop of momentous social and technological change, The Transformations is a searching, fate-filled epic for our times.' - MIREILLE JUCHAU
'A beautifully written novel, understated, intimate and humane, reminiscent for me of John Williams' Stoner in its examination of quotidian lives and the quiet dignity of its protagonist.' - CHRIS WOMERSLEY
'A novel of great clarity, precision and feeling. Whenever I wasn't reading it I wished I was.' - ROBBIE ARNOTT
'A moving story of loss, labour and recovery.' - TEGAN BENNETT DAYLIGHT
'The Transformations is an exploration of vulnerable masculinity written with great tenderness.' - GEORGE HADDAD
