"The Strays" might resonate with you if you're intrigued by the allure of bohemian life and its impact on youth. It captures that precarious balance between creativity and chaos, and the emotional cost of art. The narrative delves into the complexities of belonging and the sacrifices made for art, all through the lens of a young girl's formative experiences with a family boldly defying societal norms. It's reflective and richly atmospheric—a thought-provoking read about the prices we pay for the lives we choose.

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• Dobbie Literary Award Nominee for (Shortlist) (2015)
• The Stella Prize (2015)
• Reading Women Award Nominee for Fiction (2017)

On her first day at a new school, Lily meets Eva, one of the daughters of the infamous avant-garde painter Evan Trentham. He and his wife are attempting to escape the stifling conservatism of 1930s Australia by inviting other like-minded artists to live and work with them at their family home. As Lily’s friendship with Eva grows, she becomes infatuated with this makeshift family and longs to truly be a part of it.Looking back on those years later in life, Lily realises that this utopian circle involved the same themes as Evan Trentham’s art: Faustian bargains and terrible recompense; spectacular fortunes and falls from grace. Yet it was not Evan, nor the other artists he gathered around him, but his own daughters, who paid the debt that was owing.The Strays is an engrossing story of ambition, sacrifice and compromised loyalties from an exciting new talent.

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