Patrick Allington is a writer, editor, critic and researcher. His interests include literature, Cambodia, the history of books, and contemporary Australian and international politics. Allington has a Phd in Creative Writing (University of Adelaide) and a Masters in Politics by Research (University of Adelaide). He is also a Member of the Australian Society of Authors, PEN, and the South Australian Writers' Centre. Patrick's critical writings appear regularly in Australian Book Review, The Monthly, The Advertiser and elsewhere. His short fiction and essays have appeared in Griffith REVIEW, Southerly, Altitude (online) and in anthologies. Figurehead is his first novel.
Pub date: July 2009
RRP: $29.95
ISBN: 9781863954365
Imprint: Black Inc.
Format: PB
Size: 234 x 153mm
Extent: 256pp
Figurehead
What if you saved a man's life and he went on to play a leading role in one of the bloodiest revolutions of modern times?
Ted Whittlemore, a radical Australian journalist, does just that. In the late '60s, he saves Nhem Kiry, soon to become known as 'Pol Pot's mouthpiece'. The consequences haunt him for the rest of his days. When the Khmer Rouge take power in Cambodia, Whittlemore watches, fascinated and horrified, as the ideals he holds dear are translated into unfathomable violence. In the intervening decades, as he tries to make sense of what went wrong, it is as if Kiry's life has become intertwined with his own.
In this gripping novel, Patrick Allington takes readers deep into the world of power politics and agents of influence. He enters the worlds of Nhem Kiry and Ted Whittlemore, and with humour, intelligence and an unfailing moral sense, brings them to life.
Figurehead is about guilt and memory, and the awful distance that separates dreams from reality. It is about those people who, as George Orwell said, are 'always somewhere else when the trigger is pulled'.
“Original in conception and dauntless in execution” – Australian
“Brilliant debut novel...Figurehead fascinates, appalls, and introduces an impressive talent” – Age
“An impressive debut.” – Sunday Age
“Risky in conception, bold in execution and evocative in its writing.” – Advertiser
In his speech launching Patrick Allington's new novel Figurehead, J.M. Coetzee discusses the incuriosity of fundamentalism in the context of the characters and situations presented in Figurehead. Coetzee is followed on the stage by author Patrick Allington.
Play video
