AustLit

'Sifting through the submissions for our annual publishers’ highlights features, I was struck by the number of books coming out next year that explore the experiences of refugees. Lloyd Jones’ new novel The Cage stood out in particular, perhaps because it was put forward so passionately by Text Publishing senior editor Jane Pearson. The Cage explores the treatment of two strangers—refugees—who arrive in a small town, where a ‘wary hospitality’ quickly descends into ‘deep suspicion’ and eventually, an imprisonment that ‘gets more shocking as the days go by’. Pearson writes: ‘This novel is our world, and I’ve never felt our position in it so starkly and truthfully revealed. This is the kind of book we exist to publish.’' (Editorial introduction)