Cirrus@Austlit

'Gretel Pinniger, dominatrix, fetishist, artist, and courtesan to the rich and famous has been shocking and outraging Australia for decades. Never shy of publicity, this introverted daughter of a handsome war hero from the Melbourne establishment once wanted to become a nun.

'Instead, she threw her leather-clad body into a world of sex, drugs and riotous parties. She danced with Elton John, catered to Clyde Packer's more creative sexual fantasies and was supported by a fabulously wealthy patron, who bequeathed her a generous allowance so long as his name was never disclosed by her.

Despite marrying and becoming a mother, there is nothing ordinary about the outlandish Gretel Pinniger. Join Sam Everingham as he takes you into the colourful reality of Australia's most misunderstood eccentric. This is a portrait as revealing, provocative and outrageous as Madam Lash herself.' (From the publisher's website.)

'Gordon Barton is one of the most extraordinary business people Australia has produced. A prominent and provocative commentator with an entirely new vision for Australia, he founded the political party that eventually became the Australian Democrats, owned two radical newspapers including Nation Review, and built a vast commercial empire with interests in transport, mining, insurance, hotels, casinos, and book publishing and retailing.

'Described as the Great Gatsby of his time, Barton's private life was wild and unconventional. He captivated women and counted among his friends the mistress of the whip Madam Lash, the lawyer Sir Lawrence Street, the legendary standover man Tim Bristow and the controversial editor Francis James. At the height of his business success, he generated countless headlines, but died a recluse in Italy having lost the European and Australian transport empires he worked so hard to create.

'To know Gordon Barton is to understand a unique period in Australia's social and political history. Combining deep research with rich personal insight, Sam Everingham brings to life one of Australia's most dynamic and unconventional characters.' (Publisher's blurb)