Romulus, My Father

The philosopher Plato said that those who love and seek wisdom are clinging in recollection to things they once saw. On many occasions in my life I have had the need to say, and thankfully have been able to say: I know what a good workman is; I know what an honest man is; I know what friendship is; I know because I remember these things in the person of my father.

Romulus Gaita fled his home in his native Yugoslavia at the age of thirteen, and came to Australia with his young wife Christina and their infant son Raimond soon after the end of World War II. Tragic events were to overtake the boy’s life, but Raimond Gaita has an extraordinary story to tell about growing up with his father amid the stony paddocks and flowing grasses of country Australia.

Written simply and movingly, Romulus, My Father is about how a compassionate and honest man taught his son the meaning of living a decent life. It is about passion, betrayal and madness, about friendship and the joy and dignity of work, about character and fate, affliction and spirituality. No one will read this wonderful book without an enhanced sense of the possibilities of being alive.

Praise for Romulus, My Father:

‘A landmark in Australian literature. Romulus, My Father has become a deeply cherished literary terrain for me and continues to be an influence in my life, a reference point that I go to with pleasure and confidence when I need to be reassured about the good things in this world. It is an inspirational book…inspired by love.’

Alex Miller

‘A profound meditation on love and death, madness and truth, judgment and compassion.’

Richard Flanagan

‘I know of no other book where the love between father and son has been more beautifully expressed.’

Robert Manne