Nathan Hobby’s blog

2008-06-house-of-zealots-1-5

I started this novel in July 2002 and finished it (for the time being) in October 2008. It’s not yet published, but you can read the first six chapters. (Click on the link directly above this paragraph.)

In 2001, four student activists move into a share-house in Perth. The novel traces their lives as two of them fall out of love and two of them fall in love. Their contrasting visions for a better world are shaped by their shifting relationships and then the aftermath of the terrorist attacks and the federal election.

At age twenty-two and in her last year of university, Phoebe feels aloof from her housemates, her family and the world. Her social justice Christianity puts her at odds with both other activists and other Christians. She volunteers at a drop-in centre, spending time with drug addicts and people with mental illness, but feels overwhelmed by their problems. Every week she returns to her parents’ house for dinner, clashing with their conservative suburban values.

Leo is a troubled eighteen year old from a working class background and a committed member of the socialist youth party, Resistance. His fanaticism and hopeless love for Phoebe make him increasingly alienated.

Zac, also eighteen and a member of Resistance, wants to get into politics like his father, a state Labor MP. Increasingly, he decides that gaining power is more important than revolutionary ideals. Amelia, a member of the university Labor party, tempts him with political compromise and sex.

Samantha, Zac’s girlfriend, is a twenty-two year old feminist law student. Her relationship with Zac is in decline, his posturing growing weary and his thinly-veiled chauvinism appalling her. Her long friendship with Phoebe is also troubled. She feels judged by Jane’s Christian morality.

The idea which sparked this novel was the coincidence in dates between the S11 anti-globalisation protests on September 11 2000 and the terrorist attacks in the USA one year later. Up until the terrorist attacks, the anti-globalisation movement had even been called the S11 movement.

I owe big thanks to my wife, Nicole. She lived with this novel for years too and made brilliant suggestions for improving it. Thanks Col!

Let me know what you think of the beginning.