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Hopeless Kingdom

By Kgshak Akec
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Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Hopeless Kingdom follows Akita and her family as they navigate the hardships of migration from Sudan to Egypt and finally Australia. Presented through the perspectives of Akita and her mother, Taresai, it explores themes of trauma, belonging, and resilience amid racism and cultural displacement. When the family moves to Geelong to be closer to relatives, the fragility of their unity and hope for acceptance is put to the test in this poignant coming-of-age story.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This novel is particularly suited to readers interested in contemporary Australian fiction, migration narratives, and stories centred on African Australian experiences. Its powerful exploration of family dynamics, identity, and social challenges will resonate with those seeking insightful and emotionally rich narratives.

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Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Shortlisted, Miles Franklin Award 2023

Winner, Dorothy Hewett Award for an Unpublished Manuscript 2021

Akita's family have always kept moving to survive. Sudan to Cairo. Cairo to Sydney. Sydney to Geelong. At each new place, challenges test and break Akita, her four siblings, and her parents. Just when eight-year-old Akita is feeling settled at her new school and community in Sydney for the first time in her life, her parents decide to relocate to Geelong to be closer to their Sudanese relatives. The move is the beginning of a downward spiral that threatens to unravel the fabric of their family and any hope for finding peace and belonging.

Told through the interchanging perspectives of Akita and her mother, Taresai, this coming of age story shines a light on the generational curses of trauma and gives voice to the silent heartache of searching for acceptance in an adopted society which isn't able to look past the surface of skin colour. Individually, the female narrators experience racism, rejection and despair, but together their narratives reveal a resilience of spirit and determination to transcend expectations of what a daughter, a sister, and a mother can be.

Hopeless Kingdom is the winner of the 2020 Dorothy Hewett Award. Inspired by the author's own experience of migration from Africa to Australia, this story signals a powerful new voice in Australian writing.

From the Dorothy Hewett Award judges:

'Akec's story is a powerful and timely exploration of belonging, race, gender and migration ... and contrasts the lives of the mothers, daughters, sisters, grandmothers and cousins in this family through form and language, conjuring a powerful refraction of the experiences of African Australian women. Her storytelling is deeply personal, as well as relatable and insightful.'

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781760802158

Publisher: UWA Publishing

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 01 July 2022

Country: Australia

Imprint: UWA Publishing

Illustration: Illustrations

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 153.0mm

Height: 234.0mm

Weight: 300g

Pages: 324

Collections

Fiction General Fiction Gifts for adults Kgshak Akec

About the Author

Kgshak Akec is a writer, a poet, and a lover of words, and Hopeless Kingdom is her debut novel. She is currently a master's candidate in Creative Writing at Deakin University, and an artist in residence at Somebody's Daughter Theatre Company in Melbourne. From the moment she learned how to write in English at the age of six, Kgshak has been writing out the stories that live inside her mind. Fascinated by human experience, the untold words and unsung songs of the day-to-day, as an early-career writer, Kgshak finds herself drawn to stories that transport and are grounded in truth. Her deep love of stories and world-building is existential.

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