Into the Suburbs

A Migrant's Story

Christopher Raja

• Publisher: University of Queensland Press
• eBook ISBN:
  9780702264450
• Year: 2020

'In Calcutta we were crammed in among crowds, traffic and pollution. We had visions of breathing fresh, clean air and living in a classless society where everyone was your mate.' Christopher Raja was eleven years old when his father, David, decided to move the family to Australia in pursuit of the idyllic lifestyle. They brought their hopes and aspirations to a bungalow in Melbourne's outer suburbs. On the surface, the Rajas appeared to be living a 'normal' Australian life. Throughout his teenage years, Christopher embraces the freedoms of his adopted country, while his father becomes more and more disenchanted. Just as Christopher is settling into university, the family is rocked by a tragic and unexpected loss. Exploring topical issues of race, class and migration, Into the Suburbs is an affecting portrait of one family's search for home.

Table of contents

• Author Biography
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Epigraph
• I: Names
• II: Magical Shoes
• III: The Immigrants
• IV: Cosmopolitan
• V: Ojos del Salado
• VI: Transformers
• VII: Foreign Novelties
• VIII: Becoming an Aussie
• IX: Grand Days
• X: Extinctions
• XI: A Classless Society
• XII: Keysborough
• XIII: Gisele
• XIV: Crime and Punishment
• XV: Interest Rates
• XVI: Four Quartets
• XVII: Sunday
• XVIII: Peregrinations
• XIX: Necropolis
• XX: Pyramus and Thisbe
• XXI: Existence
• XXII: Spirit in Exile
• Acknowledgements
• Imprint Page