Ways of Escape: Hugh Mackay

Academic Hugh Mackay has a distinguished career bringing sociology to the masses. His latest work, Ways of Escape, sees him turn his hand to fiction while still delivering his acute observations about contemporary middle-class society. The novel follows the lives of five adults struggling to deal with the pressures associated with work, family and relationships – issues which Tom, a practising psychologist, helps them reconcile while simultaneously trying to reshape his life after his marriage breakdown.

The narrative is framed by the disappearance of Tom’s close friend who may or may not have committed suicide. Or perhaps, as Tom speculates, his friend is another case of someone ‘wishing they could wipe the slate clean, make a fresh start, turn back the clock, snatch a moment out of time and put it to better use’.

While Mackay is unable to provide an easy solution for the underlying tensions plaguing society, his probing into the interior lives of his characters makes for a fascinating character study that most readers should be able to identify with one way or another.