Lucky’s - SCWC Book reviewer in residence
REVIEWED BY ANDY MUIR
An epic story of love, family and connection, Andrew Pippos’s Lucky’s is set in the now forgotten world of Greek cafes.
The Facebook pages of Lost Wollongong reminds us that Wollongong’s Crown Street Mall was once a vibrant lively destination, peppered with many cafes and diners. The cafes of Crown Street and the main streets of most cities in Australia, were largely run by Greek families who introduced the post war population to new foods and eating habits as they themselves absorbed the aesthetics of Hollywood. If not for the Greek cafes, Australians might still be drinking copious pots of tea.
It is in this environment that this debut is set. Populated with characters trying rebuild their lives, we follow the life of Greek migrant Lucky Mallios and the chain of cafés he establishes in an attempt to understand the tragedy that surrounds it.
Using multiple time frames roaming from the Second World War through to 2002, this novel introduces us to the title character Lucky when he arrives in Australia as a member of the US military during the Second World War. Bored by the army, Lucky promptly goes AWOL by pretending to be the big band musician Benny Goodman conducting a tour of Australia. Having fled the army, he stays. Paired with that, the 2002 story revolves around the London based journalist Emily, who has just lost her job and her partner before she returns to Australia to write an article about Lucky. Seeking to solve the mystery connection between Lucky’s once popular chain of cafes and her long dead father, Emily and Lucky’s lives are surprisingly intertwined. The tragedy surrounding these two characters lives infuses the story with bittersweet melancholy as the story about a chain of cafes is revealed.
As the title suggests, the novel is the story of luck. It is about the small decisions we make and the knock-on effects they have for ourselves and others. For a sprawling inter- generational saga, there is a matter-of-factness to the writing. It withholds emotions that could easily have overtaken the tale. Either of Lucky’s or Emily’s stories hold more than enough material to be their own novels but when combined, lift the other without slipping into melodrama. This is on display in two critical tragedies that occur though the narrative. Either of these moments could have been mawkish but manage to convey the horror without any missteps.
This is a worthy nomination for this years Miles Franklin Award, presenting an aspect of Australian history and society we often forget. The migrants who chose to make Australia home and the rewards of that multiculturalism reminds us of the diversity of stories in our community. This might be the story of one migrant and the diaspora they are a part of, but like all good stories, Lucky’s is much more universal. It is a novel about the mistakes we make and how those mistakes make our lives messy and complex. But it is also about how redemption can be found through love and family, and hope.
Lucky’s by Andrew Pippos
Published October 2020 with Pan Macmillan Australia
“Lucky's is a story of family. A story about migration. It is also about a man called Lucky. His restaurant chain. A fire that changed everything. A New Yorker article which might save a career. The mystery of a missing father. An impostor who got the girl. An unthinkable tragedy.
A roll of the dice. And a story of love - lost, sought and won again (at last).”
SCWC Book Reviewer 2021: Andy Muir
Andy is an award nominated screenwriter and story researcher for the hugely successful Underbelly franchise, and was nominated for a Ned Kelly for his debut crime fiction Something for Nothing (Affirm Press, 2017). The follow up Hiding to Nothing (Affirm Press, 2019) continues anti hero Lachie Munro’s misadventures. Awarded a 2019 Australian Society of Authors Fellowship, he is currently writing two new crime novels.