Joan Lindsay The Hidden Life of the Woman Who Wrote Picnic at Hanging Rock

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.
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