My latest novel, Smothered, is now available from ICOE Press, or at online bookstores. It will soon be available in bookshops. It is a story depicting a father-son relationship that goes awry right from the outset and never recovers. Visit the Books page for more information.
Graeme Sparkes
Author
Graeme Sparkes 
Graeme’s work intrigues me with his self reflective characters and depictions of natural settings that transport the reader. I guess Smother will be no exception to the standard I expect and enjoy.
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Smothered is an emotional travelogue charting a sensitive youth’s resistance to the casual brutality of manhood. As a child, Alan disappoints Tosh, his father, with his lack of skill and interest in sport of any kind. Tosh represents a typical Aussie bloke, the macho provider for his family, hard-working and aspirational for financial success and its trappings, including the attraction of sex outside of marriage. He is proud of his acquisition of chicken shop franchises, which he hopelessly regards as a route to employment for Alan. Teenage Alan has no regard for his father’s efforts, confronting him with drug use and a disinclination to work, rendering him vulnerable to savage beatings from Tosh. He will never be the son that Tosh wants and he grows in cynicism with a disparaging view of his entire family and the society that sustains them. As his alienation sets in, his mental health deteriorates until he eventually finds a pathway to creativity. Still, he will always suffer for his father’s smothering of his early potential.
The voice of Alan as the narrator of the story is often bitter, and the story is stark, but the reader is sustained by the eloquence of the prose. It is fitting that in the end, Alan has no recourse but to become part of what he describes as “the wily, unsociable community of novelists”.
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Thanks for your comments, Thea, which pretty much get to the heart of the matter. With Smothered I wanted to probe an aspect of domestic violence: the brutalization of boys in the false belief it will enhance or consolidate their masculinity.
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You certainly did that well. The novel can be a resource for discussions around this.
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having trouble finding where to buy it?
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Mary-Ann, you should be able to buy or order Smothered from any bookshop, but on my Books page there is a link to my publisher ICOE Press, where you can order a copy. Also you could try an online bookshop. Thanks.
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