Wish

Peter Goldswortthy's controversial new novel is a love story like no other. Following in the challenging tradition of Honk If You Are Jesus, Wish is an entrancing and strikingly original work which explores the relationship between animals and humans - just how different are we?

Born to deaf parents, John James ("JJ") has always been more at home in Sign language than in spoken English. Recently divorced, he returns to school to teach Sign. His pupils include animal liberationists Clive Kinnear and Stella Todd, foster-parents to a very unusual daughter who is not deaf, but dumb. It's not long before JJ meets the beautiful, sensitive and highly intelligent 'Eliza', and is drawn into a bizarre chain of events...

Poignantly written with Goldsworthy's distinctive mordant wit and elegance of language, this novel will confirm his reputation as a major Australian author. Woven into the very moving romance of Wish are brilliant explorations of the nature of language, the power of the unspoken word, the ethics of scientific experimentation and the meanings of love. 

Reviews

'Challenging, intelligent and heartfelt, it demonstrates once again why Peter Goldsworthy is one of this country's finest writers.'

James Bradley, Courier Mail.

'Stylish, imaginative, poignant, and hugely unsettling.'

Penelope Nelson, Australian.

'A deeply satisfying book ... represents a new achievement in his fiction ... Read it. You won't find another novel like it.'

Chris Wallace-Crabbe, Adelaide Review.