![]() ![]() Breastfeeding is a solace and a defensive position for Hugo, a way of avoiding consequences, but it’s also a consolation to Rosie for her horribly unstable past. Fair enough, but Gary’s violent, useless and a heavy drinker. Rosie still breastfeeds and Gary, a failed artist who looks for any excuse to blame other people for his failure (and the horror of ‘bourgeois’ success) wants her to stop. The cluttered marital battleground for Rosie and Gary whittles down to Hugo. And they get my vote for The Most Toxic Relationship in a book filled with contenders. With Harry, it’s the former.īut now to Rosie and Gary. Those of us who grew up with violence in the home, come away either thinking that it’s a default position or else it’s totally unacceptable. He could hit her now, he could, like his father would have, to see how far he could go, how far she’s let him and how far he’d let himself. Harry seems to think the good old days included violence between husband and wife–giving the wife and kids a good whack if they ‘get out of line’ or hell– even if you just feel like it. Harry appears to adore his wife, Sandi, but in reality she has a place, a space in his life, and there are consequences if she crosses a line. Harry) show how violence meshes with sex. Hector and Harry are both unfaithful to their wives, but the ugly extramarital sex scenes (esp. ![]() The Slap takes a look at toxic masculinity. As the plot continues I considered the awkwardness of having to deal with someone else’s out-of-control child, but the novel’s issues are far deeper than Hugo being slapped. The BBQ guests find themselves asking if Harry was out of line, and if so is it a criminal matter. There are economic divisions: Harry is wealthy while Rosie and Gary are barely scraping by. Bilal (formerly ) is an aborigine while Gary and Rosie are white. Aisha is Anglo-Indian (father from Lahore, mother anglo-Indian). There are other divisions in the novel: Hector, Harry and Manolis are all Greek. Rosie expects Aisha to take her side, but Aisha’s husband, Hector “ wished he had delivered” the slap. Rosie, Aisha and Anouk are lifelong friends. Rosie presses charges against Harry, and of course this leads to divided loyalties as the BBQ attendees are dragged into the squalid mess. THE SLAP occurs very early in the novel (page 40 in my copy), and then the rest of the book follows the fallout of the incident through the voices of various characters: Hector, Harry, Rosie, Manolis, Connie, Ritchie, Anouk, and Aisha. Rosie calls the police and the BBQ breaks up. Rocco’s father, Harry jumps in and slaps Hugo. However, at one point, Hugo has a cricket bat, and when he’s told he’s “ out” of the game, he raises the bat as if to strike Rocco. Due to Hugo’s age, the older kids are told to tolerate his behaviour. Hugo, known to have a “ violent temper,” doesn’t play well with others, and in a tantrum he smashes the game remote. Really?Įverything is going swimmingly but for a few incidents. Hopped up on valium and doing coke at a family BBQ. Hector is actually the one who isn’t good enough. So Aisha isn’t ‘good enough’ even though she’s a wonderful wife, mother and a hard-working professional woman. Even though Hector and Aisha have almost been married for 2 decades, Koula still can’t get over the fact her son didn’t marry a Greek girl. Hector’s parents Manolis and his wife, Koula, both in their 60s. His mother, Tracey also works at the clinic with Aisha and Connie.īilal (former yobo now a recent Muslim convert), long time friend of Hector, Bilal’s wife Shamira and their children. Teenager, Connie (who works at a veterinary clinic with Aisha) and her aunt Tasha. ![]() Harry (Hector’s cousin), his wife Sandi, and their only son Rocco (8) Television writer Anouk and her much younger actor, boyfriend, Rhys. Gary and Rosie and their three-year-old son, Hugo. The plot is simple enough: one hot day friends and family gather for a BBQ held at the home of Hector and his wife veterinarian Aisha. ![]() Both series are well-worth catching, and they are interesting to compare. I came to The Slap from Australian author Christos Tsiolkas via 2 television series adaptations: One Aussie and one American. ![]()
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