The Idealist
NEW WORK BY CELEBRATED NOVELIST AND ESSAYIST NICHOLAS JOSE, SET AGAINST THE TURMOIL OF THE INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENT IN EAST TIMOR
Set in Australia, East Timor and Washington in the lead up to the independence referendum in East Timor in 1999, The Idealist is a novel which explores the entanglement of private and public life. It is a political mystery, the portrait of a marriage, a reflection on friendship, and a study of a personality as it breaks down under pressure. Jake, an Australian defence analyst, is torn between his support for the people of East Timor, whose commitment to independence in the face of mounting violence, he has experienced personally, and his sense of responsibility for, and complicity in, the actions of his government. When he is found dead in the garage of his Washington home, after passing secret intelligence to his American counterpart, his wife Anne wants justice. The narrative is told from changing perspectives, moving through time and memory, in search of what really happened. It is a story, above all, about the formation, necessity and human cost of idealism.
The Idealist is Nicholas Jose’s first novel since Original Face (2005) and continues the themes of his novels Paper Nautilus (1987) and Avenue of Eternal Peace (1989), exploring Australia’s place in the world in times of conflict, and the changes wrought in the lives of individuals who are impacted by them. He has published seven novels, and three collections of short stories, including Bapo (2014). His non-fiction includes Chinese Whispers: Cultural Essays and an acclaimed memoir, Black Sheep: Journey to Borroloola. He has written widely on contemporary Asian and Australian culture. He was Cultural Counsellor at the Australian Embassy Beijing from 1987-1990 and Chair of Australian Studies at Harvard University. He was general editor of The Literature of Australia (Norton 2009). He is an Adjunct Professor in the Writing and Society Research Centre, Western Sydney University and Emeritus Professor of English and Creative Writing at The University of Adelaide.
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