Scary Monsters by Michelle de Kretser

 

This book written from the viewpoint of Asian immigrants explores the difficulties they experience in their new lives.  The book is split into two parts and either part can read first.  In the sequential first part, Lili has moved yet again after her family's move to Australia and is teaching in Paris.  She makes friends but realizes the difference that her darker skin makes in the marketplace, with landlords and with the men she desires.  Her best friend suddenly disappears at the end of one summer, not bothering to contact Lili before she goes and Lili wonders if they were really ever friends at all.

Lyle and his family had come to Australia and then moved from Sydney to Melbourne when Sydney became virus ridden.  This is an Australia in the future where being a Muslim is outlawed.  Lyle and his wife are both mid-managers in businesses and both spend their professional lives undercutting their peers in hopes of advancement.  The couple has two children, both grown and living elsewhere and Lyle's mother, Ivy, lives with them also.  When they decide they need to downsize, they pressure Ivy into a decision she would not have made otherwise.  

Michelle de Kretser was born in Sri Lanka and immigrated to Australia in her teens.  Her novels have won various literary awards and been short or longlisted for others.  This work highlights racism and also ageism.  Lili's portion is written in the present while Lyle's is in an unhappy future.  I listened to this novel and there was both a female narrator for Lili's part and a male for Lyle's.  Each did a great job, especially the male narrator whose voice highlighted the sly mechanisms of Lyle's constant maneuverings for advancement and status.  This book is recommended for other culture and literary fiction readers.