GEORGE KEMP Soft Serve. Reviewed by Michael Jongen

Gathered in a McDonald’s as a bushfire races towards their town, the characters in George Kemp’s debut are all on the cusp of change.

George Kemp’s novel is a delight, despite its heavy themes. Simply told, it’s a story with universal resonance but a distinctly Australian feel.

Jacob, his sister Fern, and their friend Ethan gather at the local McDonald’s in their small town. It is the second anniversary of the death of their mate Taz, the lynchpin of the group. The McDonald’s is managed by Taz’s mother, Pat. She is the only worker on that day, as fire is threatening the town and her team are with their families, prepping their houses and animals for a quick getaway if required.

She always fills up the soft serve machine first. To get it out of the way. She takes the large plastic bag, bursting like a big white belly, and hoists it onto her shoulder as if she’s a farmer. She snips the corner and the liquid folds itself into the machine, sweet and pure. It’s often at this moment, when she’s forced to be still and wait, that the thoughts creep in.

On the same day, Lotte, an incomer to the town, is leading a team of volunteers on one of the fire trucks. She is working to help people evacuate, scout out potential fire locations, and put out spot fires on the perimeter of the town. She works on the truck not knowing whether her own family is under threat or if they have escaped to the local safety centre 20 minutes out of town.

Against the backdrop of the threat to the town, Soft Serve tells the story of Taz and his death, and its impact on the group and his mother, while they wait, isolated in the otherwise empty McDonald’s. As Lotte and her crew move about the town, we also get a broader sense of the disaster that is coming, and its effect on Lotte and her fellow volunteers.

In the two years since Taz’s death, Jacob, Ethan and Fern have clearly been drifting. Fern, who had dared to believe she would leave town and follow Taz to Sydney, has invested in Ethan. Meanwhile, Ethan dreams of Jacob, and what might be between them.

Since Taz was born, it was clear to Pat that she couldn’t keep him in a cot, in a playpen, in a classroom – let alone in this town. She knew he would move to Sydney some day. With all his energy focussed in that direction, there seemed to be none left for school. He was always drawn outside and Pat knew he wasn’t destined for a lecture hall, so after many a midnight battle in the kitchen, mere months before the end of Year 12, Pat and Mike eventually lost the war. Taz drove away, fresh and light, soon after his eighteenth birthday.

After Taz’s fatal accident, Pat gave up her teaching job and her marriage collapsed. She nearly didn’t come to work today because she knew the three would be in for their annual ritual to remember Taz. As the fire and smoke creep closer, and Fern finally realises that it is Jacob who Ethan loves, the four of them have to work together to fireproof the McDonald’s as much as possible.

A volunteer crew, led by Tony, arrives at the McDonald’s, exhausted and in need of nourishment. As they lie down in the booths, Pat works with the others to make burgers and coffee for the volunteers. Pat knows Tony – they had a brief encounter after her divorce – and she recognises one of the young men as Art, an ex-student who was bullied at school. Fern finds herself fascinated by Yusuke, who moved to the town to start a restaurant after the Fukushima disaster. I found this section of the book moving and powerful as the younger ones interact with the crew and gain insight into their own issues in the broader context of the community.

This is a portrait of a small Australian town, deftly and economically done over the course of a single day. The town is almost a character in itself, tying the protagonists together.

Lotte’s truck lurches round the roundabout and through the neat grid of trees. She passes the post office, the courthouse, the bank, built as snug redbrick neighbours so that people can travel as little as possible to conduct the admin of the everyday – the paperwork cell from which the life of the town sprawls sleepily outwards. Out into the sandwich-board-and-mugaccino cafes, the Vinnies, the Thai restaurant, Fine Wines, Vibe (the good dress shop), the homewares ‘boutiques’ whose whitewashed frangipani sensibilities make it seem as though they took a wrong turn miles away at the ocean and ended up here, trying to cash in on the tourist dollar. What tourists?

The novel has a sense of urgency, and the character development, compressed into an intense timeline, gives an intimate understanding of the struggles and growth of each person.

This is an exciting debut, elegantly written, commendable for its clarity, emotional depth, and rich characterisation. Soft Serve is a fascinating exploration of loss and life choices set against the backdrop of an Australian community and deserves attention.

George Kemp Soft Serve UQP 2026 PB 208pp $29.99

Michael Jongen is a librarian and you can find him as @larrydlibrarian on Instagram and Threads.

You can buy Soft Serve from Abbey’s at a 10% discount by quoting the promotion code NEWTOWNREVIEW. You can also buy it from Booktopia. We receive a small commission if you purchase through these links.

You can also check if it is available from Newtown Library.

Tags: Australian fiction, bushfires, debut fiction, friendship, George | Kemp, grief, life choices, small towns