SON OF SIN Applemore, Book 1

Narrator Hazem Shammas deploys an impressive array of accents in this mesmerizing queer coming-of-age story set in Australia and Turkey. The novel opens when Jamal, a queer Arab-Australian Muslim, is a child, and it weaves slowly through his teen years and young adulthood. Shammas captures Jamal's evolving understanding of himself and his world with quiet poignancy. He gives the many secondary characters their own particular voices--Jamal's extended Lebanese family; a young, gay man he meets in Turkey; his collection of friends and cousins in Australia. Jamal's life unfolds through a series of moments--heartrending, joyful, violent, mundane--and while the nonlinear timeline can be confusing at times, Shammas's narration remains steady, grounding listeners in each scene. L.S. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine [Published: MAY 2022]