The Diplomat

When Edward Degraves returned home to Melbourne after five years in London he was not sure what his future held. He and Gertrude fled to London after their involvement in the theft of the Weeping Woman from the National Gallery of Victoria in 1986. In London they managed to exist from the money paid by creating paintings attributed to a fake artist and through taking drugs. Before returning to Australia, Edward spent time in detox. Once out of detox he discovered that Gertrude was dead and that thieves had stolen most of their belongings. All he had left was cash and a quantity of drugs from their last sale and the urn containing his wife's ashes. He now had to confront family members and try to explain what happened. He also had to sell the heroin he had brought back to Australia.

The Diplomat by Chris Womersley is a study of how Edward copes with grief and regret as he begins the new challenges of  living without Gertrude and drugs. The book also has chapters which show the life led by Gertrude and Edward in London and how Edward found himself in his present situation. 

Gertrude and Edward were also characters in Cairo by Chris Womersley and The Diplomat continues the story of those characters. Like Cairo the novel also focuses on suburbs of inner Melbourne, in this case Brunswick and St Kilda, the location of the Diplomat Motel in Ackland Street.