So I missed my first book club as my husband booked me on a surprise holiday. Truth be I hadn't finished the book. We were supposed to have read The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas . Its set in modern Australia and is supposed to delve into the repercussions of a grown man slapping a badly behaved boy at a family bbq . I was put off from the first page and even though I stuck with it my first impressions were correct. The characters were vile, the language was terrible (swearing not grammar ) and painted a depressing racist view of Australia. I am no prude but time and time again I felt uncomfortable reading it. I'm not sure whether this was because I was aware I was going to have to discuss it in front of ladies who (not wanting to offend anyone) are slightly older than me but there really was no need for the extent Tsiolkas went to. There wasn't a single character who you felt you could empathise with or that you were rooting for. I expected to be swinging from character to