One of my favourite parts of Final Draft is discovering debut novels that get me excited for many more books to come. That was my feeling as I devoured George Kemp’s Soft Serve (sorry pun not intended) over the holidays.

George Kemp is a writer of fiction, plays and television. After a life as an actor and producing his own scripts on the stage, George was accepted into The Faber Academy, where he wrote his debut novel SOFT SERVE.

We are taken to a small town McDonald’s where four reluctant individuals gather to remember Taz.

Pat is still mourning the son she lost too young. 

Fern, Jacob and Ethan miss their best friend.

Taz died tragically after moving to Sydney and now the four find themselves adrift and struggle with how their lives have become stuck since his death.

As fires bear down on the Maccas, the four must confront how they are trapped not just by natural disaster but by their choices since Taz died.

As I read Soft Serve I couldn’t help but wonder about how George Kemp’s dramatic training had been brought to bear in his writing. The narrative of Soft Serve is simultaneously cinematic in its race against time drama amidst the fires, with big set pieces set amidst the flames, whilst also containing the intimacy of the stage as we zoom in on the four figures in  the remote fast food restaurant worrying through their all too human problems.

The novel is spare, but effective in establishing its central group. Pat grieves in a no-nonsense sort of way as she sets up the fryers and dreads the day ahead. Jacob and Ethan skirt around their truth and try to put on a face for the world. Fern doubts herself even as she shows the most vision of them all.

Against the backdrop of an unfolding disaster these all-too-human concerns of love and desire, reconciling the past and exploring the future become overwhelming. Soft Serve shows us the moment when years of avoidance must ultimately be faced. Shown through the eyes of the characters as they face themselves and each other it makes for compelling viewing.

And there I go again, talking about Soft Serve as if it were a film I was watching, as much a novel I read. The reader has this highly imaginative and visual experience ahead as they move through a tense and emotional ride of a narrative.