Losing Face

Joey is young, indifferent. He’s drifting around Western Sydney unaware of how his passivity might lead him even further adrift, off the rails, into a violent crime.Meanwhile his grandmother Elaine – a proud Lebanese woman – tries to save face and hold herself together in the wake of Joey's actions. In her family, history repeats itself, vices come and go and uncovering long-buried secrets isn't always cathartic.This gripping and hard-hitting story reveals the richness and complexity of contemporary Australian life and tests the idea that facing consequences will make us better people.

Winner of SMH Best Young Australian Novelists 2023 Short-listed for Small Press Network Book of the Year Award 2023 Short-listed for Prime Minister's Literary Awards 2023 Long-listed for Miles Franklin Literary Award 2023

'At a time when we need narratives that require more of us than comfort George Haddad's writing delivers. His is a refreshing and challenging voice. Haddad is the remarkable storyteller I have been waiting for.' -- Tony Birch, bestselling author of The White Girl
'It’s tough and it’s powerful, but it is also joyful and, ultimately, hopeful.' -- Tegan Bennett Daylight, author of Safety and Bombora
'This novel is wide in scope, rich in the sharp telling details of everyday life, and Haddad is superb at evoking characters who are both unique and relatable in all their complex, layered humanness. Losing Face is a deeply affecting portrait of one family’s engagement with the moral complexities of contemporary Australia.' -- Felicity Castagna, author of The Incredible Here and Now

Elias Anton is an Australian actor based in Melbourne. He has previously appeared in films Australia Day, Sunflower and Of an Age and TV mini-series Barracuda, based on Christos Tsiolkas’ book of the same name. Nicole Nabout is a Melbourne-based actor who has worked across film, television and stage. She has appeared Blue Heelers, The Librarians, Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, Wentworth, Nowhere Boys and Offspring. Her stage credits include Much Ado About Nothing and Midsummer Night’s Dream for The Australian Shakespeare Company. Nicole has also previously narrated The Orchard by Eva Tatina and Losing Face by George Haddad.

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