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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
A captivating literary journey that delves into the intertwined lives of a town, its people, and a region shaped by revolution and war.
'The war broke out and she decided to call her dad.
Weeks and weeks we do not speak, and the weeks become months and then they are so many years.
She imagines herself starting this story.
She imagines how she will tell this story later to someone else.
We hadn't spoken for years but then the war broke out...
'As conflict plays out across an unnamed region, its inhabitants deal with the fallout. Families are torn apart and brought together. A divide grows between those on either side of the war, compromises are struck as the toll of violence impacts near and far. We learn about those who are left behind and those who choose to leave in a great scattering. As the stories of those affected play out they weave together to show the whole of a society in the most extreme of circumstances. Even after the last shot is fired, their world will never recover.
'From the acclaimed author of The House of Youssef, Australiana and The Lovers comes a powerful new novel that asks again if it’s possible to ever measure the personal cost of war.' (Publication summary)
Notes
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Author's note: For my father
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Sound recording.
Works about this Work
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Private Desires, Collective Dispossession
2024
single work
review
— Appears in: Meanjin Online 2024;
— Review of Politica 2024 single work novel'I was in the middle of Yumna Kassab’s Politica when I had lunch with a friend. What had he been reading? The Iliad. His anger and disgust were palpable—he’d loved The Odyssey but Homer’s epic poem about the Trojan war left him sick. Hostages, revenge, relentless carnage. Wave after wave of bloody violence.' (Introduction)
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Personal and Political : Yumna Kassab’s ‘Constellation Novel’
2024
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , March no. 462 2024; (p. 41)
— Review of Politica 2024 single work novel'‘The personal is political’ is an axiom that has become ubiquitous. Normally used within the context of feminist activism, in Yumna Kassab’s latest novel – for which it serves as the epigraph – it is a reminder of the human sacrifice of war and how every part of a civilian’s life reflects its surroundings.' (Introduction)
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Politica by Yumna Kassab Review – the Human Cost of War
2024
single work
review
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 2 February 2024;
— Review of Politica 2024 single work novel'Set amid an unnamed conflict in the Middle East, Kassab’s third novel is told in fragments – a resonant choice when telling the stories of families splintered and lives cut short'
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‘Poetic’, ‘Fearless’, ‘A Creative Triumph’: The Best Australian Books Out in February
2024
single work
review
— Appears in: The Conversation , 4 February 2024;
— Review of My Brilliant Sister 2024 single work novel ; We All Lived in Bondi Then 2024 selected work short story ; Politica 2024 single work novel ; The Great Undoing 2024 single work novel ; Monument 2024 selected work poetry prose ; The Pulling 2024 selected work autobiography essay ; All the Words We Know 2024 single work novel ; The Next Big Thing 2024 single work novel
-
‘Poetic’, ‘Fearless’, ‘A Creative Triumph’: The Best Australian Books Out in February
2024
single work
review
— Appears in: The Conversation , 4 February 2024;
— Review of My Brilliant Sister 2024 single work novel ; We All Lived in Bondi Then 2024 selected work short story ; Politica 2024 single work novel ; The Great Undoing 2024 single work novel ; Monument 2024 selected work poetry prose ; The Pulling 2024 selected work autobiography essay ; All the Words We Know 2024 single work novel ; The Next Big Thing 2024 single work novel -
Politica by Yumna Kassab Review – the Human Cost of War
2024
single work
review
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 2 February 2024;
— Review of Politica 2024 single work novel'Set amid an unnamed conflict in the Middle East, Kassab’s third novel is told in fragments – a resonant choice when telling the stories of families splintered and lives cut short'
-
Personal and Political : Yumna Kassab’s ‘Constellation Novel’
2024
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , March no. 462 2024; (p. 41)
— Review of Politica 2024 single work novel'‘The personal is political’ is an axiom that has become ubiquitous. Normally used within the context of feminist activism, in Yumna Kassab’s latest novel – for which it serves as the epigraph – it is a reminder of the human sacrifice of war and how every part of a civilian’s life reflects its surroundings.' (Introduction)
-
Private Desires, Collective Dispossession
2024
single work
review
— Appears in: Meanjin Online 2024;
— Review of Politica 2024 single work novel'I was in the middle of Yumna Kassab’s Politica when I had lunch with a friend. What had he been reading? The Iliad. His anger and disgust were palpable—he’d loved The Odyssey but Homer’s epic poem about the Trojan war left him sick. Hostages, revenge, relentless carnage. Wave after wave of bloody violence.' (Introduction)