The Occupation

The Occupation, winner of the 2024 Penguin Literary Prize

'Assured, deft, sophisticated. Chloe Adams is the real deal.'
- EMILY BITTO

Breathtaking.
- SALLY HEPWORTH

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.