Oliver of the Levant

Author(s): Debra Jopson

Fiction.

It's 1969 and the world is alight with revolution. Oliver Lawrence, a Bondi Beach kid, is transported to one of the world's most bewitching cities: Beirut in the Levant.


The city is on the verge of civil war, but Oliver, who idolises Jimi Hendrix and Lawrence of Arabia, is more concerned with holding his family together. This mission becomes complicated as Oliver's ravishing, gin-swilling stepmother, Babette, and cavalier playboy pilot father indulge in unbridled expatriate partying.


And Babette has a secret that Oliver is determined to uncover. Beirut is a confusing place to learn how to be a man, involving snipers, codes of honour and purloined letters.


As Lebanon begins to disintegrate, no one can avoid being caught in the crossfire. It's bad enough when Oliver develops a very public crush on the local warlord's girlfriend, but it turns disastrous when his young guerrilla friend, Ringo', enlists his misguided enthusiasm to turn his exploding cigar magic trick into a suitcase bomb.


When Oliver is given an old Box Brownie, he finds a way into the world, into the lives of others and, finally, into adulthood. Oliver of the Levant is by turns h


Product Information

Debra Jopson began this novel when she participated in the Faber Academy novel writing course. She has worked as a journalist in Melbourne, Hong Kong, Beirut, London and Sydney, specialising in indigenous affairs, health and rural affairs as well as major investigations. She was in July 2014 named the Walkley Awards Freelance Journalist of the Year. After working as a journalist for mainstream outlets, Jopson has for the last couple of years committed herself to producing in-depth pieces as a freelancer. The four stories for which she was awarded, published in print and online, represented a body of work requiring an amount of time and effort most media outlets will no longer support. Jopson's award-winning work covered diverse topics including ASIO, Tennant Creek's indigenous housing crisis, misuse of housing funds, and the loss of indigenous rock art.

General Fields

  • : 9780857988294
  • : Random House Australia
  • : Vintage (Australia)
  • : December 2014
  • : Australia
  • : books

Special Fields

  • : Debra Jopson
  • : Paperback
  • : 416
  • : en
  • : 370