| Cairo | |
| Author: | Chris Womersley |
| Country: | Australia |
| Language: | English |
| Publisher: | Scribe |
| Release Date: | 2013 |
| Pages: | 304 |
| Isbn: | 9781925106626 |
| Oclc: | 850395771 |
Cairo is a 2013 novel by Australian author Chris Womersley.[1] It is Womersley's third novel.[2]
The novel takes its name from Cairo Flats, a heritage-listed apartment building in Fitzroy, Victoria.[1] [3]
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.[1] Tom is drawn into a circle that would perpetrate the Theft of The Weeping Woman from the National Gallery of Victoria and would sell it to relocate to France.[1]
The novel includes a number of actual places and venues on Brunswick Street, Fitzroy and in the suburb: Punters Club, the Black Cat cafe, Polyester Records and Rhumbarellas.[4]