The Passenger Seat

SHORTLISTED FOR THE NSW LITERARY AWARDS - CHRISTINA STEAD PRIZE FOR FICTION

Shortlisted for the MUD Literary Prize

‘Structurally ingenious, rendered in unusual and fine colours, buffed to a shine. A perfect debut novel, explicit in its excellence!’ – New York Times

Approaching the wrong person with open hands can be fatal.

Seeking escape from their small-town existence, two teenagers impulsively drive north, with no particular place to go and no particular sense of who is at the wheel.

Adam and Teddy hope to leave boyhood behind, but as the journey progresses their friendship becomes a struggle to prove themselves. When Adam harasses a young couple they meet on the highway, it lands them in trouble they cannot run from.

In taut and stylish prose, The Passenger Seat examines how men learn and perform masculinity. Rejecting easy answers, it keeps our eyes trained on the vanishing point where vulnerability edges into violence, alienation into aggression.

PRAISE FOR THE PASSENGER SEAT

‘A truly marvellous novel, one that rewards being read multiple times’ – Sydney Morning Herald

‘Khurana’s prose enthrals, marked by a sharp social and sensory realism and a mature emotional intelligence’ – Books+Publishing

‘The most riveting book I read this year…’ – The London Magazine

‘Khurana unfurls a gripping drama, a game of cat and mouse in Deliverance style primordial forests and dirt backroads where fragments of civilisation, and other humans, are glimpsed through the trees’ – The Australian

‘So good it makes me angry’ – Granta

‘A tense and gripping power struggle of toxic masculinity, as the teenagers push each other further and further down a violent road of no return’ – Guardian

‘The real brilliance of this novel lies in its ambiguity.’ – Times Literary Supplement

‘To read this novel feels like a constant acceleration, like putting your foot on the pedal and realising you do not know how to take it off. Your only choice is to speed into an inevitable crash.’ – Readings Monthly

‘What begins as a rite of passage turns into surreal violence. Khurana’s prose flows with hypnotic force, concealing laconic undercurrents of menace and intrigue … Cinematic and subtle, fuelling both a slow burn and a slow turn, this is a deeply riveting and satisfying novel.’ – Brian Castro, author of Chinese Postman

‘As honest as it is harrowing, The Passenger Seat examines the psychology of two people in the process of making decisive mistakes, and never looks away. An exploration of how one thing leading to another soon gathers weight.’ – Max Easton, author of Paradise Estate