Cairo is a 2013 novel by Australian author

Chris Womersley Chris Womersley (born 1968 in Melbourne, Victoria) is an Australian author of crime fiction, short stories and poetry. He trained as a radio journalist and has travelled extensively to such places as India, South-East Asia, South America, Nort ...

. Cairo is Womersley's third novel. The novel takes its name from

Cairo Flats Cairo Flats is a heritage-listed apartment building in the Melbourne inner city suburb of Fitzroy. The building was designed in 1935 by architect Acheson Best Overend and built in 1936. It is a U-shaped, two story building comprising 28 apartm ...

, a heritage-listed apartment building in

Fitzroy, Victoria Fitzroy is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Yarra local government area. Fitzroy recorded a population of 10,431 at the 2021 census. Pl ...

. The novel is presented as a reminiscence of "Tom Button", a boy from rural Victoria who inherits an apartment in Fitzroy from a bohemian aunt. Tom is accepted into a circle of artists and musicians, centred around Max and Sally Cheever, a couple who live in unit 28 of the Cairo Flats. Tom is drawn into a circle that would perpetrate the

Theft of The Weeping Woman from the National Gallery of Victoria The theft of ''The Weeping Woman'' from the National Gallery of Victoria took place on 2 August 1986 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The stolen work was one of a series of paintings by Pablo Picasso all known as '' The Weeping Woman'' and h ...

and would sell it to relocate to France. The novel includes a number of actual places and venues on Brunswick Street, Fitzroy and in the suburb:

Punters Club The Punters Club was a pub and live music venue located on Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, in inner Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It developed a reputation as one of the city's premier live music venues, drawing comparisons to the likes of New ...

, the Black Cat cafe, Polyester Records and Rhumbarellas.

References

External links

Video of the author talking about the novel
at

Scribe A scribe is a person who serves as a professional copyist, especially one who made copies of manuscripts before the invention of automatic printing. The profession of the scribe, previously widespread across cultures, lost most of its promi ...

website. 2013 Australian novels Novels set in Victoria (state) Scribe (publisher) books {{2010s-novel-stub