Thanks to Scribner for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a funky little book that I have kept thinking about since I finished it. The story follows Danny, an illegal immigrant living in Sydney. To make his living, he takes under the table house cleaning jobs in the apartments of wealthy Australians. The book takes place over one day, during which he hears about the murder of one of his former clients and suspects her lover (and another client of his) is involved. But, because he is illegally in the country, he is hesitant to approach the police.

The book is written in a very literary, stream of consciousness style. You flip constantly back and forth between Danny's manic thoughts (which are at times quite weird) and little snippets of how he came to be illegal in Australia. As Danny starts to get more and more anxious, his thoughts become weirder and more disjointed.

While at times it was definitely hard to follow Danny's thoughts and what exactly was going on in the book, it would always come together if I kept reading. It was an interesting perspective of an illegal immigrant, not just arriving in a country as tends to be the focus of many stories, but who has been living in his new country for many years. It got into some of the implications of that lifestyle: the constant worry about being discovered, taking l0w-paying jobs to get by, living under the radar etc. Personally, I had never read a book featuring a Sri Lankan main character, so that alone was quite interesting, as was the study of immigration in Australia.

I don't think this book will appeal to everyone with its literary style and prose that is not always entirely clear. However, I enjoyed it and felt it was an important addition to my reads this month.

3.5 stars rounded up