Australian author Zeynab Gamieldien's second novel, Learned Behaviours, uses a murder mystery to explore the intersections of race, class and gender. The story follows Zaid, a prospective barrister from western Sydney who has tried to shed his past, only to be pulled back when the sister of his deceased childhood friend asks him to investigate his possible innocence.
Zaid, who now socialises with wealthier colleagues on the north shore, returns to 'The Area', a diverse part of Sydney, to confront memories of his friend Hass, who killed himself after being arrested for murder. The book alternates between Zaid's high-school past and the present, focusing not on the crime itself but on themes of belonging and social mobility.
Gamieldien examines privilege without being didactic, showing it through Zaid's financial struggles, his father's experiences in apartheid South Africa, and his sister's difficult return from an abusive relationship. Zaid's inability to swim serves as a motif for class disparity, as he repeatedly tries to overcome it.
Like Gamieldien's debut, The Scope of Permissibility, this novel explores social codes and the cost of breaking them. It is a pacy, compelling narrative that tackles the idea that 'making it' is not the same as moving on from one's past.
