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Cairo

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Cairo

By: Chris Womersley
Narrated by: Damien Warren-Smith
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At 18, Tom escapes ordinariness in small town Australia for Melbourne and a flat in a strange block named Cairo. There he meets the magnetic Max Cheever, and is drawn into his circle of bohemian artists and dreamers. But soon Tom is ensnared in a plot to steal a million dollar Picasso masterpiece. Among undependable forgers and violent art dealers, Tom trusts only in Max - even as he falls hopelessly in love with his beautiful wife...©2013 Chris Womersley (P)2014 W F Howes Ltd Contemporary Fiction Genre Fiction Fiction
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I was fascinated to discover that 'Cairo' turned out to be a speculative account of the theft of Picasso's Weeping Woman from the National Gallery of Victoria in 1986, the year I returned to the city after a long period away. The incident is permanently fixed in my memory and I believe it could well have happened as Chris Womersley describes. At first I found the characters rather tiresome, but as they developed they became more interesting, and so did the story, as the Weeping Woman connection was revealed. After half an hour or so of listening, I became drawn in to this Fitzroy world with all its artists and pseuds.

Entertaining story of Melbourne's Bohemia

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I knew there’s a painting in NGV by Picasso, ‘Weeping Wonan’, but had no idea about its heist. Scince then I’ve read a lot of stuff on the net. It’s really a great crime (?), totally unbelievable.

This book cleverly intertwines fictional events with this painting, set in Melbourne 1986.
Obviously I can’t feel nostalgic while reading this, I wasn’t here, but, the author succeeds in recreating a vibrant, rough and tumble Fitzroy area very well.

The ending was a bit predictable, but, I thoroughly enjoyed this coming of age story telling. It’s a great homage to a bygone era in the 80s when everything was so relaxed that this ‘victimless crime’ actually happened, and artists and bohemians could afford to live in Fitzroy.

Fascinating story, narrated very well

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