Cirrus@Austlit

'For Jerusha Braddon, only daughter of a lighthouse keeper and a gifted young painter, Melbourne in the last third of the nineteenth century should have been the zenith of her dreams. But hemmed in by poverty, dependence and inhibiting social conventions, she must instead confront the limitations of what women artists are permitted to do and to paint. When a reviewer comments on her painting Bushfire over Melbourne that the ferocity of its subject matter and its raw energy is unsuitable for a woman painter, she despairs of the suffocating situation.

'Forbidden as a woman to enter life classes, she takes an unusual and original step. She is supported in her unconventional choice by a cynical Collins Street art dealer, Peter Larchy, and more dangerously by capricious reckless, beautiful Christine, her future sister-in-law. The consequences of her actions are unforeseen and both tragedy and triumph follow.' (Publication summary)