Learned Behaviours

by Zeynab Gamieldien

The past is calling him home ...As a prospective barrister, Zaid Saban is on the cusp of achieving everything he has dreamed of. His social and professional world is far removed from his schoolyard days in the suburbs of western Sydney, even more far removed from the traumatic events of his final year of school in which his best friend, Hass, was arrested for murder.

Zaid thinks he has put all this behind him. But when Hass’s sister, Amira, finds him and asks him to read her brother’s diary, Zaid is pulled back to the very world he had left behind. Is it possible that Hass was innocent? As Amira and Zaid seek to solve the mystery of what happened all those years ago, Zaid is forced to confront the ugliness of the past and what it means for who he is today.

PRAISE FOR LEARNED BEHAVIOURS
‘a yarn that’s both a page-turner and a warm-hearted analysis of human nature, as humane as it is sophisticated’ – Readings Monthly

‘Compelling and pacy, it demonstrates an acute awareness of experiences of privilege and subordination, without being preachy.’ – Guardian 

‘Storytelling at its most gripping, a gaze at its most unflinching... A mystery that twists the genre’s tropes to excavate injustices and the mythologies of guilt and innocence that fuel them—layer by layer, truth by uncomfortable truth.’ – Sara M Saleh, author of Songs for the Dead and the Living

‘A clear-eyed and deeply moving exploration of past injustice, privilege, and belonging. Zeynab Gamieldien lays bare what it is to inhabit two worlds in contemporary slipping in and out of your skin to navigate the spaces you are granted entry to and perpetually second-guessing the rules of admittance.’ – Dinuka McKenzie, author of The Torrent 

‘Compelling, complex and even chilling. Learned Behaviours is a concentrated look into the murderous cycle of stereotypes. Yet, within its pages of crime and consequence lies a quiet defiance – the possibility of unlearning, reclaiming, and rupturing that very cycle. A thrilling and thought-provoking read.’ – Winnie Dunn, author of Dirt Poor Islanders

‘A compelling new novel filled with a genuine sense of mystery, set against a western Sydney backdrop.’– Amani Haydar, author of The Mother Wound

297 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 29, 2025

Reviews

[Natasha (jouljet) · Rating 3 out of 5]

A long ago murder lies unscrutinized following the suicide of the accused. A murder mystery in such a unique revisionist form, with the need to right wrongs, discover truths, and maybe find themselves in their examining of the past.

A young professional barrister is visited in his office one Friday afternoon by the sister of his best friend from high school. She wants to review the traumatic past of their finals weeks at school, that led to the demise of her brother. He has been trying to live as far away from those memories, and that life and personal history, as he can as he seeks to climb the career ladder.

Tales of his teenage self, those final months of schooling and the culmination of events that shaped him. Zaid faces a reckoning he has not allowed himself to consider in all this time. Until now.

High school in Western Sydney, with all the labels and reputations, the expectations, good and bad, placed upon each young person, is a brutal place. Trying to be yourself, make friends, and be somebody is a fesa stacked against kids, right from the start.

The burden of expectations, reputations, unfair judgements and assumptions, and the unfair challenge of battling those narratives, as well as the usual quest for good marks, ambitious dreams, and the hope of friendship, all form this mix of much looking back, and re-examining.

Such a problematic character, Zaid is difficult to like, and yet a compelling creation to move through this quagmire of emotions, memories, and confronting personal truths.

A book to challenge assumptions and postcode tropes, and an intriguing set of histories and present to form an engaging read.

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5. Murder mystery, cautionary tale, love story? Left strong impression of experience of racism and classism for Zaid pursuing law career. But found the murder mystery painfully drawn out, with Amira drip feeding Zaid notes from Hass's diary (her brother, Zaid's best friend, accused murderer). As for Amira forgiving Zaid's betrayal of her brother ... hmmm.

[Amy Margaret · Rating 5 out of 5]

.....📚 𝑩𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝑹𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘 📚.....

Learned Behaviours by Australian author Zeynab Gamieldien’s is a gripping novel that masterfully weaves together a murder mystery, a love story, and a coming-of-age narrative. This compelling novel delivers a sharp, nuanced commentary on race, class, privilege, and identity in contemporary Australia.

As a prospective barrister, Zaid Saban is on the cusp of achieving everything he has dreamed of. His social and professional world is far removed from his schoolyard days in the suburbs of western Sydney, even more far removed from the traumatic events of his final year of school in which his best friend, Hass, was arrested for murder.
Zaid thinks he has put all this behind him. But when Hass’s sister, Amira, finds him and asks him to read her brother’s diary, Zaid is pulled back to the very world he had left behind. Is it possible that Hass was innocent? As Amira and Zaid seek to solve the mystery of what happened all those years ago, Zaid is forced to confront the ugliness of the past and what it means for who he is today.
What unfolds is a layered investigation not just into the crime, but into the social structures and personal histories that shaped it.

This story doesn't easily fit into a genre. Whilst it does look back on an old crime, it's more a story of connection and a social commentary on the intimate struggles of identity and the resounding reverberations of cultural history. Zeynab Gamieldien exposes the reality of living between two worlds in modern Australia, where you’re constantly adjusting to fit into spaces you’re allowed into, all while questioning whether you truly belong and what it takes to be let in. This is one I'll be thinking about for a while.
.
.
.
.
Thank you @ultimopress for my copy in exchange for an honest review.
.
.
.

[Soaliha · Rating 5 out of 5]

To describe Learned Behaviours as a crime novel feels crass because the story is far more sophisticated, restrained and introspective than the genre implies. Zeynab Gamieldien’s expertly woven mystery novel doubles as an unflinching and defiant interrogation of class and racial marginalisation in Sydney. Her searing depiction of the way class power operates to alienate the disenfranchised is tempered with her compassion and respect for those victimised by it — this is not a murder mystery that dehumanises the death central to its plot. Zaid’s past and his reckoning with his present will leave some uncomfortable, others seen. I read almost all of it in one sitting, and as someone who grew up in western Sydney and now lives elsewhere, working in a profession that is largely white and which class plays a major role in success, it was deeply resonant.

(These review is an excerpt from my book column with Missing Perspective.)

[Jehad Jabr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Learned Behaviours is a compelling mystery that delves deep into issues of privilege, class, and racial dynamics. Through a tightly woven plot, the story unravels secrets and tensions within a seemingly ordinary community, revealing the complexities beneath the surface. The characters are nuanced and the writing sharp, offering a thought-provoking exploration of social inequalities wrapped in a suspenseful narrative. A powerful read for those who appreciate mysteries with meaningful social commentary.

[Bronwen Heathfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in Sydney the story follows a young man coming to terms with his past. He comes from the Western suburbs, is a man of colour and Islamic. He is now learning to be a barrister and has buried his background. However a young woman appears and asks for his help in deciphering a diary of her brother’s. Her brother had been his best friend but was accused of murder and committed suicide. The book moves between the past and present and addresses the class system and racism of Australia as the young man engages more and more with his own history. Interesting read

[Sue Gould · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 Well written and engrossing. An exploration of racism, class, stereotyping, privilege, relationships, family and expectations set in Western Sydney. Told in alternating narratives of the present and the past - the final years of school and the events that unfolded at that time for Zaid, the protagonist and his circle, and the reverberations and implications for his present as a young barrister.

[ValTheBookEater]

read to see how one life-changing event can touch so many lives. solid debut with some plot points that I wish were given more attention or space to breathe. felt like somewhere in-between a YA and adult fiction because of the nature of the flashbacks to 'then' and moving back to the 'now'.

I do wish we got to see the story from Hass' perspective, not that Zaid wasn't compelling but it was very much looking from the outside in.

[Merceiam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Coming of age novel set in contemporary south-west Sydney, offering a cultural viewpoint different to other novels I have read that are set in Sydney. My local public library attached a genre sticker on the spine indicating it was a detective style novel - nope. There is a crime but this novel is about how the characters are affected by it, not really about the solving of a mystery.

[Nabiha · Rating 5 out of 5]

This validates so many of my feelings about working in corporate Sydney. I fear I see too much of myself in Zaid.

[Robert Carletti · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic read… couldn’t put it down.

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has it all. A teenage murder mystery, an exploration of the reductive effect of labels and stereotypes, the impact of fear, the stress and pressure of academic pursuits, comparison of class and privilege. The pacing was good and it alternates between now and then, so we get high school coming of age combined with the after effect of trauma. Really well done, especially in terms of the inclusion of racism and discrimination as demarcations for expectations.

[Hala · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gamieldien mixes commentary on class and privilege with a decade old mystery with varying results. Zaid is person of color trying to make it as a barrister when a tragedy that happened back in his school days comes back to haunt him. The mystery part of the book wasn't conclusive by design, and Gamieldien has a lot more to say on the social divides and white privilege prevalent in modern Australia. This is a well written book, though not as complex or indignant as I thought it would be. Recommended, with this great line summing up the gist of the book ' ... white people deciding who belongs and who doesn't on land that was never theirs to begin with.'