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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'Heico is an ornithologist fighting a losing battle to protect the birds in his beachside suburb. When a journalist asks for comment on a planned development, Heico exaggerates his reports on how many migratory birds use the site. Soon it is revealed that the proposed building is a mosque, and he finds himself embroiled in community resistance to the project. Still, he refuses to back down.
'Nahla, Heico’s house cleaner, is trying to find her place in a new country and a new marriage. Isolated and lonely, she sees the mosque as a symbol of what she hopes to find in Australia: community, familiarity, acceptance. But as resistance to the project intensifies, she must summon the courage and the language to claim her space in this new life.
'Piercingly clear-eyed and deeply insightful, The Price of Two Sparrows explores what we hold sacred and why. It delicately picks apart questions of community and prejudice, religion and nature in the modern world. This is a beautiful and thought-provoking debut from an award-winning Australian writer.' (Publication summary)
Notes
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Dedication : 'Dedicated, with great affection and gratitude, to Agnes, Alladein, Anthony, Araliya, Atko, Gabriel, Go Van, Luiza, Ngoc, Oleksandr, Omer, Remy, Sotiris, Sukron, Tamas and Uma, and to Kathie, Kendra, Andrea Kelli, Brian and the late Clark.'
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Epigraph : 'One belongs to where one lives and here we are.' - Mario Licón Cabrera
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Epigraph : 'What is the price of two sparrows - one copper coin? But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it.' - Matthew 10:29
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Large print.
Works about this Work
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Taking the Temperature : Four New Novels
2021
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , April no. 430 2021; (p. 34-35)
— Review of The Price of Two Sparrows 2021 single work novel ; Repentance 2021 single work novel ; Low Expectations 2021 single work novel ; Friends and Dark Shapes 2021 single work novel 'To survey concurrent works of art is to take the temperature of a particular time, in a particular place. And the temperature of the time and place in these four début Australian novels? It is searching for a sense of belonging, and, at least in part, it’s coming out of western Sydney in the wake of the 2005 Cronulla riots. All four novels are set in New South Wales, three of them in suburban Sydney. Each is concerned with who is entitled to land and the stories we tell while making ourselves at home in the world, sometimes at the expense of others.' (Introduction)
-
Taking the Temperature : Four New Novels
2021
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , April no. 430 2021; (p. 34-35)
— Review of The Price of Two Sparrows 2021 single work novel ; Repentance 2021 single work novel ; Low Expectations 2021 single work novel ; Friends and Dark Shapes 2021 single work novel 'To survey concurrent works of art is to take the temperature of a particular time, in a particular place. And the temperature of the time and place in these four début Australian novels? It is searching for a sense of belonging, and, at least in part, it’s coming out of western Sydney in the wake of the 2005 Cronulla riots. All four novels are set in New South Wales, three of them in suburban Sydney. Each is concerned with who is entitled to land and the stories we tell while making ourselves at home in the world, sometimes at the expense of others.' (Introduction)
