Soft Serve

by George Kemp, Rebecca Macauley (Narrator)

Stuck in a regional McDonald's, as bushfires close in, three 20-somethings and their dead friend's mum all face a reckoning. Fern longs for Ethan, Ethan longs for Jacob, and Jacob struggles to long for anything. Meanwhile, Pat just wants her grief to ease up.

Soft Serve proves that small-town lives are huge, and that anyone can get stuck in limbo between their past and their hoped-for future. From celebrated Australian playwright and actor George Kemp comes this charming and poignant it's drive-thru Chekhov… and full of heart.

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Audible Audio

Published February 3, 2026

Reviews

[Ashleigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is refreshing to read a book so distinctively Australian. When I read the blurb I thought this was the premise of an Australian play if I had ever heard one, I was pleasantly surprised to see that George Kemp is a playwright, Soft Serve being their first novel (story checks out!)

Three young adults and their deceased friend’s mother sheltering in a regional Maccas while a bush fire closes in. All are coming to terms with decisions which can change the trajectory of their lives.

A character study through grief which felt urgently relevant, self discovery at the forefront, this little book is complex. How do you redirect yourself when your life crumbles? Soft Serve is raw, tender and captures dreams beyond a small town. I’ve seen it described as drive-thru Chekhov which I think is perfect.

I would love to see more Australia literature on shelves.

[Sharni · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this on a whim - because it is rare day when I find myself perusing BorrowBox’s offerings (I’m a Libby girlie!) but the stars aligned and I quite enjoyed this snap shot of a handful of people dealing with the reality of a bushfire closing in on the town and the impending realisation that it’s too late to leave.

The group of people that find themselves holed up at the Maccas are also bound together by a person who isn’t there, who died before the story starts but who haunts the narrative. It’s quite beautiful but also tragic how the little dramas that make up life collide with the realisation that there might not be time to make that change, to pursue their dreams of a bigger future.

The author is a playwright and that shows in the framing of the novel, I could see this working brilliantly on stage.

[Sophie McComas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet and funny and sad and human. A gorgeous debut.

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I read a slender, novella sized book, I’m always hoping for another Of Mice & Men. Poverty, struggle, humanity, tenderness, care and tragedy. Unfortunately this doesn’t come anywhere close.

It’s Tell and not Show, it’s lumpen and lazy. For a 190 page book, it’s very hard to finish. The characters are bare, names stencilled with emotion that the author says they feel rather than their actions demonstrate. Fern, the main female character, is given nothing to do but cry and frown. Her spoken lines are almost non existent.

Bush fire, small town, tragedy - this should have packed a punch. This should have been memorable.

A real shame.

[Alib · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a lovely book but it’s too short! I would have liked to know more both of the characters’ futures and their pasts. Story of grief after Pat’s son dies and how she and his friends try to patch their lives back together - each with a somewhat different strategy. It mostly takes place on one day in the town’s MacDonalds as bushfires approach. It took me back to the trapped feeling of my own Black Summer experience. It’s a quick read so it’s only afterwards that you start to question some of the elements of the plot - Fern and Ethan’s relationship, Jacob’s decisions.. In the midst of it you really are just in the midst of it all with them.

[Saoirse Smith-Hogan · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️ I bought this as I am currently travelling Australia and I have seen it in all the bookshops. SO GOOD! Read it in a sitting. A tender exploration of grief and love with a backdrop of wildfire fear. This will stay with me for a while.

[Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

“This place holds her grief in its hands,”

Grief is all encompassing as a bushfire. The embers sparking kilometres away.

Beautiful and devastating. And as someone who’s lived through several days that start with ‘black’, it was all too real and I loved them all.

And yes, I cried like a baby.

[amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

A somber love letter to small town Australia. I know these people and I know these places. Devastatingly beautiful descriptions of nature and grief

[Amy Plant · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a debut!

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wasn't blown away by this debut - good depiction of regional Australia during bushfires but I couldn't connect with any of the characters

[Sally Saunders · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wasn't bad, Wasn't great, was ok.

[Robbie Newell · Rating 1 out of 5]

Possibly one of the worst books I’ve ever read and that’s saying something!

The author had a lot of interesting ideas he wanted to say but all the characters are frankly unlikeable, the authors decision to not use quotation marks when a character is talking is frankly bazaar and makes it hard to read.

To be fair the novella suffers from the fact that I read a book onto a month ago where the characterisation and certain plod of that novel come across as frankly homophobic, but it’s hard not to accuse this book of the same

In a nutshell the book is a swing and a miss of being any form of good, and is the second of two Australian books recently where the author heavily implies that being straight is good and gay is bad.

[Rohan McCartney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Soft Serve is an absolutely fantastic portrait of small town Australian life and the way in which people deal with trauma and crisis. Reading this, I was instantly transported back to my own small town facing the crises of bushfires and my own personal struggles. Kemp writes with such clarity and reliability I was completely transfixed with the story, the characters and the emotions that swallowed me whole.

[Dani Ringrose · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really strong, taut debut work from Kemp. A perfect length, almost locked-room narrative, with a surprising ending. Kemp showed love and empathy for all his characters and their faults laid bare in the McDonalds restaurant as a bushfire rushes towards them.

"She always finishes her time up here by standing and gazing out towards the hills in the distant darkness. This morning those hills are shrouded in an ominous black and grey - maybe the smoke is close than it was yesterday? She thinks, briefly, of those praying, petrified Romans in Pompeii, the terrestrial in its perpetual losing battle with the mythic. She closes her eyes, spreads her arms and takes a deep breath in."

"His day has been gently but persistently macabre: the roadkill fox, the fly floating in his long black, the fire trucks hulking through the town. They've all conspired to give Jacob the uncomfortable sensation that the clammy hand of death is resting lightly on the back of his neck."

"Fern thinks of her mum, Angie, with her red ankle boots and butterfly floatiness, always dancing, lightly landing on a series of step-boyfriends' in a series of houses. It was always them who moved to the men. That's the thing about butterflies: you're not supposed to touch them. Every time you do, you wipe off a little bit of their magic, and each of those men had done exactly that to Angie. Fern had watched on as her mother lost a little bit of herself each time, wings tiring, searching desperately for somewhere to land."

"'Come on, darlin'. What's the King Brown in your toilet?'"

"Ethan can smell on Jacob all four of the elements: hot wind, earthworm bait, river water and smoke. Complete. But broken into bits."

"She had wondered about all the waste, all the shitty plastic toys she's handed out in Happy Meals, and thought, Have I done this? What's happening outside? No, it's a mismatch of thought, she tried to tell herself. The scale is all off."

"'How can you be so wise and good at rugby?'"

"The two of them sit in their booth: Fern, searching for a back to be carried upon; Jacob, the unlicked cub. One leaning towards connection like it's a fire giving warmth; the other running madly away in fear."

"In her time, Lotte has seen the haphardness of the mind when choosing what to pack in an emergency: two-minute noodles from the pantry and a wedding dress; a sleeping bag and a favourite childhood book. A forced and panicked sorting of past, present and fuutre - an essentialising of one's life."

"Without thought there's only instinct and it's exactly that which makes her look out and see it: the writhing mass of orange in the gum that leans towards the restaurant's golden arches, towards their fatty yellow heat. The tree is crackling and popping, and its leaves smell like a hospital ward. Clean and sharp and menacing. What a trick for Mother Nature to play, Pat thinks - to bend her mind back like that."

[Michael Doolan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It might be that my first job was at Maccas, or that I spent my childhood living between two towns where you felt “the excitement of a new set of traffic lights going up … as well as the sadness about the excitement of a new set of traffic lights”, or that I have felt the gravity of grief Kemp writes about, but whatever the reason, I thoroughly enjoyed this as a quick read. Whatever shortcomings it may have I’ll put down to being a debut novel. If you grew up in regional Australia and understand the humour and heartbreak of those places, I would recommend.

[clare moggach · Rating 4 out of 5]

I normally steer pretty clear of Australian literature for no other reason than I prefer escapism when I read and Aussie lit is just a little too familiar, but I’m really glad I read this!

[Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is a dreamy quality to the writing of this book, while being utterly nightmarish too.

Soft Serve is a novel about a lot of things. Fern, Ethan, Jacob and Pat are all mourning Taz on the year anniversary of his death but it won't be a tranquil moment as bushfires close in. I guess, in a way, Soft Serve is a novel about being trapped. Trapped in small town Australia. Trapped in grief. Trapped by weather. Trapped by sexuality. It's oppressive, atmospheric and suffocating.

I found the writing engaging and affecting. Though I do think the plot could have done with a little bit of polish. It's one of those narratives that's about everything and nothing with an ambiguous ending. I just wanted a touch more from it. Maybe a bit more devotion to the rendering of the characters? Or a slightly clearer idea of their direction?

But the themes of stagnation in country Australia hooked me right in the heart.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautifully written novel that is so authentic to the feeling of living in regional Australia during bushfire season. The tension, fear and uncertainty is palpable and feels so relatable.

This short but gorgeous book is a snapshot of a day in which a regional town is being threatened by bushfires. The story focuses on Pat, who works at Maccas after losing her son Taz in an accident two years prior; and Taz's three friends, Fern, Jacob and Ethan.

The novel explores each of the characters' relationships with each other, with Taz and with grief and how they're moving forward (or not) in the wake of their loss.

I absolutely loved this book! So well written with so much depth without trying too hard. Heartbreaking but still managed to be funny at times. Such a great read!

[Colette Godfrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars - I liked the premise for this one, all the 'action' happening in one day (but with some happenings in the past to inform the present). The characters were likeable enough and the small town community well captured, but I felt a bit flat on finishing, due to the turn that the narrative took.

[Black Flamed Candle Books 🕯️📚 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did like this novel although gut-wrenching at times; it did feel a bit underdeveloped as I feel like it brushed over certain aspects in a tip of the iceberg manner, quickly brushed over, when I would’ve loved a more in depth explanation of what happened in the characters’ innermost relationships. I would have liked to know more of the characters' futures and their pasts; like the story of grief after Pat's son dies and how she and his friends try to patch their lives back together. Additionally, a bit of backstory on how he died. I feel like it was hinted at, unless I have forgotten it by now. Additionally, the exploration of gayness and sexuality, and how it would be explored further within the other characters self acceptance and relationships.

I did listen to the audiobook, which I did enjoy the narration of. I later learned the physical copy does not have quotation marks when the different characters are speaking, and I know that would’ve confused me as to who was speaking when.

Since most of this book is described as taking place on one day in the small, tight-knit town McDonalds/Maccas, as bushfires approach, it has an uncanny trapped, claustrophobic feeling, which I can only imagine, gratefully so, despite living in Australia, myself. It really hit close to home since it’s the end of summer now, yet despite that, still having fire warnings with the sky full of smoke as early as 6am, lasting all day into the evening. Whilst listening to the narration, it felt like I was in the midst of it—in the midst of it all with them.

In the beginning of the book I did find a lot of the characters unlikeable but I’m glad I pushed through. With themes of love, friendship, coming of age, family, denial, acceptance of oneself and others (gay/sexuality), found family, death and grief—it was definitely a book out of my comfort zone, but an important read, nonetheless—really makes you feel grateful for what you have, when you read about those that have lost.

[Jessica Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a fabulous first debut. This is a wonderful character study with very complex and individual personalities interwoven into each others lives. Dare I say I even cracked a slight teary at the end with that conclusion. I was not expecting to feel so attached to the characters in such a brief amount of time, especially Pat. The story focuses on multiple characters and how they are connected to one another with a fast food restaurant being the main location/point of interest for them to gather. This is great for small town livers, Australians who know the devastation of a bushfire and fire season and those wanting to feel immersed in that culture. It felt very personal to me as someone who lived and grew up in a small town in such drastic summers. Detracted some stars for the fact that I think this could've been a full novel, it was missing SOMETHING for me and I'm not quite sure what.
(Would make for a wonderful TV adaption)

[Allie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very Australian so is relatable. Maccas being the main setting, also relatable and with a country bushfire on its way to destroy the town. Also relatable.
Pat works at Maccas after some trauma of losing her son Taz in a hand gliding accident.
Then there is the young adults trying to navigate their relationships and friendships, including same sex relationships. And beginning to work out what they want from their futures.
The story jumped around a bit and although it was good I feel like it lacked a bit of depth.

[Seán Coireall M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Soft Serve, George Kemp captures the uneasy stillness of another Australian summer overshadowed by the threat of bushfires. Set in a small rural town, the story focuses on the rhythms of everyday life — work shifts, familiar faces, idle conversations — all pressed flat beneath relentless heat.

Kemp’s restrained prose builds a quiet tension, where the fires feel less like an event and more like a constant presence shaping moods and relationships. The result is an understated yet evocative portrait of small-town life simmering on the edge of change.

[Natalie M · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was hoping for a gut-punching read, but landed up with a light feather tap.

Excellent, unachieved potential. There is a lot to praise: a small outback town, the tensions of an out-of-control bushfire, the subplot of broken dreams, isolation and the hard knocks of life. Unfortunately, these ideas do not reach their potential. It was as if the author feared writing a novel, so he settled for a novella.

Good potential, but like the young people in the novel, underdeveloped.

[Lyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this exploration of grief, growing up, sexuality and responding to a fire. After the death of Taz, his mother Pat is devastated, her marriage disintegrates and her life is shrunk. His three friends also cope in different ways, while trying to find their own way in life. Through flashbacks, we learn more about the characters and their lives.

[alex l · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite liked this. Thought it was a bit light-on at the start, but ended up making me unexpectedly cry towards the end. While the characters weren’t always likeable, there was generally an endearing quality to them all, like the people you meet and know in country towns.

[MeggyTee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short read, you can do it in one go, but very engaging. A snapshot of small town rural life on a day of extreme fire danger. The switching perspectives were not jarring but instead left me wanting to immerse myself more in each one.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great debut fiction by George Kemp - I reviewed this for the Saturday Paper (31 January) here https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/c...

[Garth Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Low-key devastating, this throbs with small town yearning for a future that’s already in locomotion.

[Madeline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this. The tension, physical and interpersonal, builds so well throughout the story. A very distinctly and pleasingly Australian story, too.