๐ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ช๐ต๐ผ ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐บ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ณ ๐๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐น๐
Lindsay believes he is simply defending his position as head of the household. He tells himself he has done nothing wrong, that the courts favour his wife, and that his brother's mockery is proof of a world stacked against men like him. The novel sits inside Lindsay's own thinking as he works through these justifications, showing readers how insecurity, resentment, and a need for control can pass for strength in a man's own mind, long before he is able to name it for what it is.
"Lindsay believes his own excuses at first, and so does the reader," said P. J. Whitby. "That was important to me. I did not want to write a man who knows he is wrong and does it anyway. I wanted to write a man who has to slowly find that out."
๐๐ฎ๐บ๐ถ๐น๐ ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ข๐น๐ฑ ๐๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ ๐ฒ๐ป
Much of the tension in the book comes from Lindsay's relationships with his brother Henry, who has built a comfortable life and sees Lindsay as a disappointment, and with the memory of their late father, a strict man who taught his sons that drink and control were part of being a man. Lindsay's sons, Mark and Liam, listen from the next room to the pattern their father has fallen into, a detail the author uses to show how these behaviours are learned and passed down rather than appearing out of nowhere.
๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ป ๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐ฃ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ถ๐๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฃ๐๐ฏ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ ๐๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป
The story took shape after P. J. Whitby spent years following media coverage of domestic violence, combined with his own experience of it and his observation of marriages that break down when one partner puts personal ambition ahead of the family. Rather than writing from a distance, the author chose to place readers inside the mind of the person causing harm, a decision he felt was necessary to show how ordinary the early stages of this behaviour can look.
๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐ง๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ด๐ฒ๐ ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฒ
"Lindsay's Role" is structured so that readers first see Lindsay much the way he sees himself, before the narrative gradually shifts and lets his actions and their consequences come into fuller view. This slow turn is central to the book, and the author hopes it encourages readers to sit with a character they might otherwise be quick to judge, and to think about what leads a person to this point rather than simply where it ends.
๐๐ก๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐จ๐ค ๐๐ฌ ๐ ๐จ๐ซ
Written for readers between the ages of 19 and 90, "Lindsay's Role" is aimed at those who are drawn to literary fiction built around difficult, real-world subjects. The novel follows one family and one man's struggles to explore themes of masculinity, control, and the possibility of change.
๐๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐๐๐ต๐ผ๐ฟ
P. J. Whitby lives by the sea in Brisbane, Australia. He returned to study later in life and completed a university degree before turning his attention to writing. He lives on his own, without immediate family nearby, but keeps close friendships built through his love of literature and his enthusiasm for life. . "Lindsay's Role" is his second novel, following his debut, "Sister Hoods," and draws on both his personal history and his long-standing interest in the questions the book raises.
๐๐ผ๐ผ๐ธ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ
With the release of "Lindsay's Role" approaching, P. J. Whitby hopes the book reaches readers who value fiction willing to sit inside a hard subject rather than look away from it, and that Lindsay's story adds something honest to how male violence is talked about and understood.
Bracken Joseph
Australian Book Publishers
+61 721160858
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