In leafy, stale St Ives, 16-year-old Raffaele 'Rusty' Leonardi lives with his workaholic mother Fiona and neurotic stepfather Phil. Rusty spends most of his time at the prestigious Clarendon College and rarely sees his estranged father Vincenzo, who lives with his new wife and two young children in the same Inner West terrace that Vincenzo's father bought after emigrating from Italy in the 1960s.
Rusty is a strong, confident boy, whose starring role on Clarendon's rugby team has made him the top dog at his Hunters Hill campus. But Rusty has been weakened by unresolved emotional baggage his entire life, a weight he has just started to notice. This includes bearing Fiona's various mental breakdowns over her life, and fielding Phil's constant questioning about Fiona's previous marriage.
Rusty is unsure of his place with Vincenzo, whose family rejected him and his mother after they left Leichhardt for good. He feels no more certain in his mother's home, where her unhinged work routine is rapidly deteriorating her mental health.
A cataclysmic event catapults Rusty from his dreaded stupor and forces him into action. After retracing the steps of his childhood, and rekindling the memories and relationships he thought were lost forever, Rusty decides what sort of son, brother and person he wants to be.
Daniel Lo Surdo has written about Sydney's major affairs and cultural events since he was a teenager. This includes as a reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald, and as editor of City Hub Sydney, the Inner West Independent and Bondi View. He has previously written for The Daily Aus, Australia's fastest-growing youth news media service, and the Star Observer, Australia's longest-running publication for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex communities. Growing up in Sydney is his debut novel.
