The Transformations

by Andrew Pippos

A portrait of a vanishing world, and a love story for the ages - from the award-winning author of Lucky's.

In the fading glow of Australia's print journalism era, The National is more than a it's an institution, and the only place that George Desoulis has ever felt at home. A world-weary subeditor with a bookish sensibility and a painful past, George is one of nature's loners.

But a late-night encounter with an unorthodox and self-assured reporter, Cassandra Gwan, begins to unravel both of their carefully managed worlds. As the decline of the newspaper enters a desperate stage, George and Cassandra struggle to balance their turbulent relationship with their responsibilities to family, and the compromises each has built their life upon.

With a deft wit and a sharp eye for emotional complexity, Pippos examines the stories we tell ourselves, and the ways people handle grief, guilt and generational change. The Transformations is a novel about endings - of dreams, relationships, institutions- and the chance of new beginnings.

PRAISE FOR THE TRANSFORMATIONS

'Andrew Pippos is one of Australia's best novelists. The Transformations shows his perfect emotional pitch, his gift for folding big things into small baskets of domestic life in prose that goes straight to the heart. Who knew he could write another novel as good as Lucky's? Here it is.' - MALCOLM KNOX

'In this intelligent, disarming and capacious novel, Andrew Pippos pulls the covers back on the public and private self. As we follow the gloriously messy lives of George, Cassandra and Elektra, we're reminded that the antidote to solitude lies in what we long for or desire. With its mysterious undertow, its delight in human fallibility, its backdrop of momentous social and technological change, The Transformations is a searching, fate-filled epic for our times.' - MIREILLE JUCHAU

'A beautifully written novel, understated, intimate and humane, reminiscent for me of John Williams' Stoner in its examination of quotidian lives and the quiet dignity of its protagonist.' - CHRIS WOMERSLEY

'A novel of great clarity, precision and feeling. Whenever I wasn't reading it I wished I was.' - ROBBIE ARNOTT

'A moving story of loss, labour and recovery.' - TEGAN BENNETT DAYLIGHT

'The Transformations is an exploration of vulnerable masculinity written with great tenderness.' - GEORGE HADDAD

Genres: Fiction

290 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 2025

Reviews

[Dave Leys · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s rare to read a book about relationships, work, family, that feels like it’s written by an adult for adult readers. This is that book. Alternately funny, sad, curious about human relations and change, Pippos has created characters I care about and has written with compassion, insight and wisdom that feels hard-earned. A very thoughtful book that will stay with me.

[Andrew Gay · Rating 3 out of 5]

What an awesome thing to finish a book on Christmas morning post eggs benny (no i will not wash up!)

This was enjoyable; cliched in parts, but enjoyable. I liked the shifting relationship dynamics and the constant second guessing. Also love Elektra, moody queen.

Thanks for the gift mum!

[Nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everything changes in the middle. In the final scene, George is finally baptised into a new life, though it is unclear to what degree the ambiguities of his previous one remain. I particularly enjoyed the story of George and his daughter.

[Annette Chidzey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book as a Christmas gift and enjoyed the opportunity to read it during this period when time is one’s own to do as one wishes.
I had first heard about this novel when the author, Andrew Pippos, was being interviewed on the radio and that interview piqued my interest.
The narrative, set against the backdrop of a declining newspaper, The National, explored the complicated lives and relationship between the protagonist George Desoulis and an almost equally important co protagonist, Cassandra Gwan both of whom worked for this paper but had intertwined experiences both at the paper and outside of it.
The writing was engaging and the premise on which the book was based quite compelling to contemplate. Worth a 3.5 at least.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

4/5 - but bumping the rating. Excellent prose. Good ruminations on relationships. Fun backdrop with Sydney newspaper workplace backdrop. All good stuff.

[Anne Fenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this novel. For me, it joins Andrea Goldsmith’s A Buried Life as some of the best Australian contemporary life writing . Relationships are depicted really well, there are genuine characters working through life’s challenges. Work life matters, the setting is often in George’s workplace , a Sydney newspaper room. Cass is there too but the focus with her is in her home or his apartment. These interiors matter, they are recognisable and show what sort of people they are. Change is the theme, in various spheres. Basically we all resist it.

[Jillwilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like this novel more for the following reasons. The main character is a kind man. The backdrop is that of a newsroom at a newspaper. There is a love story and a feisty daughter. But it just didn’t lift off the page in the way that great novels do. It felt flat. In thinking about it after, George, the main character, a sub-editor with the Sydney-based newspaper The National, feels a bit one- dimensional. Some characters are hard to bring to life. George is conflict-avoidant over both smaller work issues (a poster that is published that is embarrassing) and large personal issues such as the way his ex-partner treats him and their daughter. It’s not a surprise that he is a bit lonely but also not particularly interested in social connection. It’s hard to make a main character out of someone who is so withdrawn and lacking in energy.

The book’s title refers not only to changes in the newspaper industry (it’s 2014 and advertising revenues have well and truly dried up) but also to the relationship that begins between a reporter at the paper, Cassandra, and George. George’s ability to make connections and to love are suppressed because of trauma in his past. Cassandra is married with two young children and is experimenting with polyamory.

One reviewer saw George’s passivity as a positive, writing: “Pippos uses mundanity to anchor the reader in George’s bustling workplace and book-strewn apartment with a relative peace. That might seem antithetical to producing the necessary conflict of a novel but in art as in life, conflict is ever-present. Passivity necessarily mutes the volume, colour, and depth of a life’s potential, which poses a conflict in and of itself.” (https://www.artshub.com.au/news/revie...)

Another reviewer describes the novel as “tender”, and goes on to say that it: “…canvasses myriad issues: the balance of long-term relationships, parenthood and responsibility versus sexual freedom and individual autonomy; the lasting effects of historic child abuse and alcoholism; and class divisions.” (https://www.theguardian.com/books/202...)

Another writes: “With limited dialogue, the novel relies heavily on the storytelling of the third-person omnipresent narrator. As a reader, we witness all these events unfold, but it still feels like we’re held at arm’s length.” (https://honisoit.com/2025/10/review-t...) This comment feels the closest to my experience of the novel which I think could have been more gripping.

[Tessa Wooldridge · Rating 3 out of 5]

‘For a long time, and with a great deal of effort, [George had] tried to live without turbulence, without much at stake. But that was not a real life. It was a vow of poverty.’

George Desoulis has grown up in New South Wales, the son of Olwyn and Foti who ran a café in the regional city of Goulburn; the café opened 14 hours a day, seven days a week.

George’s parents are now dead; his sister lives in the US. He appears to have no friends. He reads a lot.

‘George loved literature because, among other reasons, it honoured lives that were overlooked or misapprehended in newspapers, films, and books of history – lives like his own.’

At the ripe old age of 35, George is living in a one-bedroom, rented apartment in Sydney and working the night-shift as a sub-editor at The National newspaper. He is single. He has a daughter, Elektra, from a brief, teenage relationship. The daughter’s mother, Madeleine, has recently re-located from Melbourne to Sydney with queer, intellectually curious, 15-year-old Elektra in tow.

Added to this scenario is Cassandra, a journalist at The National. Cassandra and her husband are experimenting with an open marriage.

Enter George, stage left.

* * * * * * * * * * *
As a reader, I wanted George to have something good (apart from books) in his life. I didn’t feel especially connected to him as a character. I felt a bit sorry for him as he plodded through his days in a desultory fashion. He seemed to have been a passenger in his own life.

Elektra and Cassandra open him up to new possibilities.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Note: this novel contains an account of child sexual abuse. It also includes a character who is a recovering alcoholic.

* * * * * * * * * * *
You can find more book reflections on my blog, Thoughts from an Idle Hour.

[Jennifer (JC-S) · Rating 4 out of 5]

George Desoulis feels at home as a subeditor at the National, a fictional broadsheet newspaper located in Darlinghurst, Sydney. But change is coming. The novel opens with two of George’s colleagues being farewelled, and his encounter with Cassandra Gwan, a reporter, who tells him that ‘Everyone likes you.’ George wonders about that comment all weekend.

Cassandra is married with two small children. She and her husband Nico have decided to have sex with other people. George and Cassandra begin a relationship. And George’s life is further complicated by the arrival of his teenage daughter Elektra. Life is full of compromises for both George and Cassandra.

The novel is full of transformations, including to the National. George’s daughter Elektra is trying to find her own place in the world, while Cassandra’s husband wrestles with demons of his own. Elektra’s mother, Madeleine has her own inflexible views about where George and Elektra fit into her life. And we learn that there are elements of George’s past which shape his personality and choices.

I’ll leave the story there and simply add that Mr Pippos brings his flawed and very human characters to life. I enjoyed this novel.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

[TJ Edwards · Rating 4 out of 5]

A contemporary drama about folks who feel so real you might know someone in their situation, The Transformations may not be the typical “Happily Ever After”, but it is a portrait into an unorthodox family life. It also covers a wide range of topics from the declining role of print media in a shifting marketplace to alcoholism and familial breakdown. Pippos is excellent at painting his characters in a realistic light, no matter their flaws.

I enjoyed Pippos’ other book, Lucky’s, far more than this but I suppose I really became attached to his titular character there. Unfortunately for him, I judged this work against that one, but I still really enjoyed the story and could recommend this for lovers of contemporary fiction.

[Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

Apparently, Pippos excels at writing immersive novels that relate to contemporary issues but never let those overwhelm the plot. In the dying days of the broadsheet newsrooms, one man goes through his own mini personal crisis. Out of this, Pippos gives us a tender story of self discovery in your late 30s, and a very modern, very believable (well, mostly) romance, and an equally modern story of parental connection.

[Lisa]

A pity, I liked Lucky's.... but at page 81 I'd had enough. I'd read dribs and drabs of it, lost interest, fell asleep, started again, and now I'm giving up.
*yawn* Journalists seem to think that their work is endlessly fascinating, and (some) men seem to think that detailed descriptions of sex are fascinating too.

[Callan S · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent, sympathetic and recognisable depiction of the slow-then-sudden decline of print journalism in the mid 2010s. George’s life and relationships are handled with care, and while much is described in his past and formative experiences, nothing is overdone. Set to the backdrop of Sydney’s inner suburbs, mirroring the social changes afoot. I loved it.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A coming of middle age story sums this up well, with characters and relationships written for adults, which is not so common anymore.

[Michael Triantafyllou · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is hands down the best book I’ve read all year. So many plot lines but the one I enjoyed the most was between George and his daughter.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 I really enjoyed 2/3 of this book and then I felt the writing changed and it started to feel rushed and quite different which I found hard to understand.

[Alana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this style of writing, can’t wait to read another of his books

[Gavan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautifully crafted "adult" relationship story, but strangely remote. The central characters never really grabbed me and the plot meandered along for a while in the middle section. There is a lot of relationship stuff (marriage break down and the effects on children, ethical "open" marriage, the effects of additions on family members, etc) set against a backdrop of the decline of print journalism. All well and good, but the novel just never really grabbed me. Still worth reading for the quality of writing.