Soft Serve
by George Kemp

A gem of a debut novel by award-winning playwright George Kemp, about small-town lives and the search for genuine sustenance in a fast-food world.

A$29.99

(Paperback)

Ships on 3/02/2026

Overview

Stuck in a regional McDonald’s, as bushfires close in, three twenty-somethings and their dead friend’s mum all face a reckoning. Fern longs for Ethan, Ethan longs for Jacob, and Jacob struggles to long for anything. Meanwhile, Pat just wants her grief to ease up.

Soft Serve proves that small-town lives are huge, and that anyone can get stuck in limbo between their past and their hoped-for future. From celebrated playwright and actor George Kemp comes this charming and poignant novel: it’s drive-thru Chekhov … full of wit and heart.

Details

Favel Parrett

‘‘Full of spark and love, Soft Serve is fiercely tender and moving.’’

Benjamin Law

‘‘A scorching novel about small-town grief, queer yearning and the rituals that keep us connected. George Kemp’s debut is full of complicated humanity, dark laughs and endless compassion – and makes him one to watch.’’

Eleanor Limprecht

‘‘Soft Serve is an irresistible debut; it will thaw the hardest heart. George Kemp delivers a tale of first love, loss and the inexorable pain of growing up.’’

Heather Mitchell

‘‘This exquisite book grabbed my heart and held it long after it ended. Every character is drawn with the greatest affection, exploring the beauty and fragility of loss and love.’’

Hugh Mackay

‘'A new and glorious voice has arrived on the Australian literary scene – compelling, lyrical, evocative and utterly original.'’

'Soft Serve' by George Kemp

George Kemp

George Kemp is based on Gadigal land in Sydney. He was selected to be part of the Faber Academy in 2023–24, during which he completed the first draft of Soft Serve. His award-winning play Shack has been performed frequently around the country and internationally. Shack will be included on the new 2026 NSW Drama Curriculum and is in the early stages of development for television. George is also an experienced and passionate educator, having worked for Bell Shakespeare and NIDA, and is currently Resident Artist at Australian Theatre for Young People. After completing his master’s degree at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London, he had a successful career as an actor across Australia and England, in productions such as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead and Cyrano de Bergerac (Sydney Theatre Company), Longing (Hampstead Theatre) and national and international tours of The Play That Goes Wrong and Peter Pan Goes Wrong.