‘Quietly and gleefully challenging.’ – Farrin Foster

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

‘A small treasure.’ – Los Angeles Times

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.

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.

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