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  • Published: 3 March 2026
  • ISBN: 9781761340703
  • Imprint: Penguin
  • Format: Trade Paperback
  • Pages: 272
  • RRP: $34.99

Slip




An intoxicating novel of a young woman in Sicily reckoning with the cost of desire

'There are many ways to know someone. You will see. I will show you.'
Grace, a young linguist, plans a trip to Sicily to research Italian dialects. Travelling alone, she hopes for six weeks of total immersion in the language, food and social dynamics of Palermo. Then she’ll be joined by her long-term partner and barrister, Jack, for the holiday he needs after his first major trial.
But when Grace rents a room in writer Nico’s apartment, what was intended as a period of study and internal reflection takes a different turn. Moving gently at first, Nico and Grace talk and prepare meals together, and he opens the door to the local experience she craves. As they spend more and more time together, however, Grace and Nico’s conversations turn thrillingly intimate. And all the while, Jack’s arrival in Sicily draws nearer.
An intoxicating, sensual novel that interrogates ideas of authenticity, tourism and the power of language, Slip is a portrait of a woman reckoning with the cost of desire.

  • Published: 3 March 2026
  • ISBN: 9781761340703
  • Imprint: Penguin
  • Format: Trade Paperback
  • Pages: 272
  • RRP: $34.99

About the author

Abbey Lay

Abbey Lay grew up in Geelong and now lives in Melbourne. Lead Us Not is her first novel, which was shortlisted for the Victorian Premier’s Award for an Unpublished Manuscript.

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