You Deserve Nothing is the first title to be published by new imprint Tonga Books. Each book published under this imprint will be selected and edited by a prominent writer and this novel was the choice of Alice Sebold, author of The Lovely Bones. As stated on their website, ‘Tonga is unafraid of darker material, uninterested in cleverness for the sake of cleverness, and passionate about depth of character. Among other things, Tonga hopes to cultivate the sort of cutting edge voices that often go overlooked by larger publishing houses.’ I read this novel in two sittings and am happy to say it lives up to this mission statement.

This is Alexander Maksik’s first novel and the story follows high school teacher William Silver and two students, Gilad and Marie. The setting is the International School of France in Paris and the story is told from each of their points of view, with each chapter alternating between characters. This is a technique that can be poorly executed, especially when one character is more interesting than another. However, Maksik has not only managed to make each character equally compelling, but his skilful handling of the narrative means that the transition between each perspective is painless.

William teaches a subject that endeavours to introduce philosophy to his students through great works of literature; class discussions centre on morality and freedom of the individual. When he allows himself to become sexually involved with Marie, his abstract teachings become reality and just as he begins to lose the respect of his students and peers, he regains some sense of his own freedom. Moral judgement is left to the reader, but if you like the idea of escaping to Paris, drinking Burgundy and discussing existentialism, then this is the perfect book to read in the spring sunshine. A great book club book.

Kara Nicholson is from Readings Carlton