Joan Lindsay: The Hidden Life of the Woman Who Wrote ‘Picnic at Hanging Rock’ (Brenda Niall, Text)

Brenda Niall’s portrait of author Joan Lindsay is bookended by her charming recollections of meeting Lindsay in 1984, just months before her death. In the intervening chapters of this concise and elegant biography, Niall (Can You Hear the Sea? My Grandmother’s Story), known for her award-winning books on Australian writers, including Lindsay’s cousin Martin Boyd, sets out to understand the woman behind the mysterious masterwork Picnic at Hanging Rock. Lindsay was enmeshed in Melbourne’s art scene, with connections to the bohemian Boyd and Lindsay families (her husband, Daryl Lindsay, was the brother of The Magic Pudding author Norman). It is interesting that Joan Lindsay’s own artistic ambitions are harder for her biographer to define than those of the creatives around her, as she downplayed her early work in painting and writing as well as her invaluable (unpaid) work at the National Gallery of Victoria, where Daryl was director. While it’s not essential to have read Picnic at Hanging Rock beforehand, those familiar with the novel will likely appreciate this biography more. Niall naturally positions the novel as the climax of Lindsay’s life and, along the way, highlights aspects of her upbringing that would later appear in Picnic, such as her love of Australian landscapes. By Niall’s admission, Lindsay remains an elusive figure, and the creation of Picnic, written in just a few feverish weeks following intense dreams, is almost as surreal and surprising as the mystery it depicts. As Joan Lindsay proved, leaving things unresolved has a compelling power.

Books+Publishing reviewer: Megan Koch is a writer and bookseller based in Adelaide. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

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