His illegal self / Peter Carey

His Illegal Self is a compelling novel set in the 1970s, following the story of Che Selkirk, a precocious seven-year-old boy who has been raised in wealthy isolation by his grandmother in New York. His parents are radical political activists—his father is dead, and his mother is in hiding.

When a mysterious woman named Dial appears and takes Che on what is supposed to be a brief meeting with his mother, everything changes. Suddenly Che is on the run, traveling across America and eventually ending up in a remote hippie commune in the Queensland rainforest of Australia. As he begins to adapt to this strange and raw environment, he faces questions about identity, truth, and belonging.

The novel is a gripping exploration of childhood innocence, political ideology, and motherhood, told with emotional depth and poetic language. It reveals how love and loyalty can survive even in the most challenging and uncertain circumstances.