Annie Magdalene

Born at the turn of the century, Annie Magdalene grows up in a suburban cottage in Adelaide. She is devoted to her family but makes up her mind when she is sixteen that she doesn’t want a husband or children, instead prioritising friendship, work, independence and a sense of self.

In a style that is both simple and full of wonder, legendary Australian feminist artist and author Barbara Hanrahan creates a full portrait of life – its small pleasures, its beautiful flaws, and its inevitable intersections with death. 

First published in 1985, Annie Magdalene still feels entirely fresh, capturing sleepy war-era Australia as well as many universally enduring truths. With a new introduction from Farrin Foster, this is a moving, funny and perfectly formed novel of a beautifully ordinary life.

‘The prose is simple and direct, the sentiments profound.’ – Jason Steger, The Age

‘Quietly and gleefully challenging.’ – Farrin Foster

‘Hanrahan’s tour de force.’ – The Canberra Times

‘A small treasure.’ – Los Angeles Times

‘Arguably the best woman writer to have emerged in Australia in the last decade.’ – Australian Book Review (1970s)

‘One of the most important creative writers at work in Australia today.’ – The News (1970s)

‘One twentieth-century Australian writer who will still be read 100 years on. Her poetic vision of ordinary people and events includes and earthy curiosity about the minutiae and meaning of people’s lives.’ – Times on Sunday

‘Without condescension or nostalgia, Hanrahan tells stories of people who grow up and grow old but whom life passes by. Their haunting quality is that for many readers these tales could be autobiographical.’ – Time Out

Barbara Hanrahan is one of Australia’s most visionary authors and artists. She trained at the South Australian School of Art and the Central School of Art in London, and exhibited and taught art internationally throughout her life. Her expressive, playful and unapologetic stories and artworks often centred around the female experience, her childhood in post-war Adelaide, and her creative and personal evolutions. Hanrahan and her partner, sculptor Jo Steele, lived between Adelaide and London until her death in 1991. Her prolific career resulted in an enormous catalogue of celebrated artworks; the National Gallery of Australia alone holds almost 500 pieces. She also published 16 books, including her somewhat scandalous posthumously published diaries and her debut novel, the perpetual classic The Scent of Eucalyptus.

If you enjoyed Annie Magdalene, we suggest:

• Convincing your book club to read Stoner by John Williams, another full account of an ordinary life, or Carol Shields’s The Stone Diaries – why so many stones?

• Exploring sumptuous descriptions of clothes in fiction: The Dressmaker by Rosalie Ham, Gigi by Colette, The Pillow Book by Sei Shonagon (nobody knows clothes like Japanese ladies-in-waiting from the 990s), or Sea Green for more of Hanrahan’s incredible descriptions of outfits

• Or going instead for stories the bees might enjoy: A Fig at the Gate by Kate Llewellyn, The Gardener by Salley Vickers or The Office as a Boat by Moya Costello

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