The Occupation by Chloe Adams

Winner of the 2024 Penguin Literary Prize

‘Assured, deft, sophisticated. Chloe Adams is the real deal.’
EMILY BITTO

In the autumn of 1949, two women convene in the parlour of a Melbourne hotel. Tess is married and childless. Mary, unwed and pregnant. Surrendering to the unimaginable, Mary agrees to a life-altering pact- she will give her child to Tess.
One year earlier, Mary stands on the deck of an Australian naval ship, awaiting arrival in the ruined Japanese city of Kure. There, thousands of Australians have established an occupation of the Hiroshima prefecture.
As she settles into her new life, Mary finds carefree expats touring the countryside, hosting picnics and even throwing parties, all while the war-ravaged locals try to rebuild their lives.
When she meets Sully, an Australian journalist, Mary’s idealised notion of the occupation crumbles. Confronted by moral ambiguity on such a grand scale, she becomes reckless.
Returning home may seem the answer, but even there, echoes of the occupation linger.

About the Author: Chloe Adams is the winner of the 2024 Penguin Literary Prize. She is a journalist and fiction writer and has been published widely by Australian news mastheads and literary journals. She holds a master’s degree in creative writing and a graduate certificate of international and community development. Her love of literature was shaped by her mother, an actress, playwright and passionate second-hand bookstore owner. Chloe has lived in the UK, Timor Leste and Adelaide, and now calls Naarm/Melbourne home.

15 Jul 2025
 

The Occupation by Chloe Adams ISBN 9781761351426