'Joan Lindsay’s Picnic at Hanging Rock has captivated and perplexed generations. But the woman behind the novel is as much an enigma as the disappearance of the fictitious schoolgirls and their teacher.
'Joan Lindsay, wife of painter, art entrepreneur and National Gallery of Victoria director Daryl Lindsay, sacrificed her own artistic talent in deference to her husband, as was the order of the day. She painted landscapes with skill, but gave it up; wrote plays and novels of little merit; took routine journalism commissions for much-needed funds; and happily played hostess to guests including Dame Nellie Melba, Robert Helpman, Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh, as well as Keith and Elisabeth Murdoch and Robert Menzies, at the Lindsay country house on the Mornington Peninsula – all the while giving no indication of the literary brilliance that would emerge late in her life. There were clues, though, as Brenda Niall reveals in this fascinating biography. Joan’s unconventional attitude towards time – she allowed no clocks in the house and never wore a watch – and her deep reverence for the Australian landscape hint at the mystical centre of her masterpiece.
'Was Joan really the dutiful wife, or was she patiently waiting her chance? Was Picnic at Hanging Rock a burst of creativity in response to a life held in check? Or did something happen behind the carefully curated scenes that gave rise to her extraordinary novel? Joan Lindsay: The Hidden Life of the Woman who Wrote Picnic at Hanging Rock explores these questions and more in an engaging and surprising portrait of a fascinating Australian woman.' (Publication summary)
'Brenda Niall’s new book, as its full title announces, is a biographical account of the “hidden life” of novelist Joan Lindsay, best known as the author of Picnic at Hanging Rock.' (Introduction)
'If Joan Lindsay is known to contemporary readers, it is as the author of the classic Australian novel Picnic at Hanging Rock, which was published in 1967 and made into a feature film directed by Peter Weir in 1975. What is surprising about Brenda Niall’s engrossing biography of Lindsay is how little of it is devoted to Picnic at Hanging Rock, which was published when its author was 71 years old.' (Introduction)
'If Joan Lindsay is known to contemporary readers, it is as the author of the classic Australian novel Picnic at Hanging Rock, which was published in 1967 and made into a feature film directed by Peter Weir in 1975. What is surprising about Brenda Niall’s engrossing biography of Lindsay is how little of it is devoted to Picnic at Hanging Rock, which was published when its author was 71 years old.' (Introduction)
'Brenda Niall’s new book, as its full title announces, is a biographical account of the “hidden life” of novelist Joan Lindsay, best known as the author of Picnic at Hanging Rock.' (Introduction)
