A filmic romance debut novel, both an intellectual puzzle and a compulsively readable love story.

THE BEAUTIFUL FALL
by Hugh Breakey
Text Publishing, 2021

Every 179 days Robbie’s memory resets. He knows this because he told himself in the letter he found after his last forgetting. To survive his recurring amnesia, Robbie leads a life that’s solitary and regimented. Alone in his apartment, he works to complete a bizarre, herculean task bequeathed to him by his former self. And then, with twelve days left before his next forgetting, Julia invades his life. Who is this aloof and beautiful young woman with plans of her own? As the hour draws near, Robbie is forced to confront the fact that his past is very different from how he had imagined it. When Julia reveals her own terrible secret he must come to terms with the truth about his own identity and their shared history. Is he about to lose everything all over again?

Hugh Breakey is an award-winning and widely published philosopher. He has previously worked as a kitchen hand, editor, airport construction worker, theatre director, ethics consultant, pinball repairer, disk jockey, tennis court builder, and university lecturer. Hugh lives in rural Australia with his two children and his wife, novelist and New York Times bestseller Kylie Scott.