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The Transformations
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 newspaper: 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.
In the fading glow of Australia's print journalism era, The National is more than a newspaper: 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.
352 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2025
212 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 15, 2025
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.
November 22, 2025
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
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
November 24, 2025
A coming of middle age story sums this up well, with characters and relationships written for adults, which is not so common anymore.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews