Joan Lindsay published Picnic at Hanging Rock at 71. Her writing life presents its own mysteries

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The book adds to a growing list of Australian literary biographies – if we can even call it a biography in this complex case.

Review: Joan Lindsay: The Hidden Life of the Woman who wrote Picnic at Hanging Rock – Brenda Niall (Text Publishing)

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What's really noticeable about this list is the way women biographers are dominating the field of writing about female authors – often authors who aren't as well-regarded by critics or in vogue, or where the shape of their literary career isn't clear-cut.

In Australia, it's tough for women to practice or get recognised.

Writin' that made a real impact was often forgotten easily. Networks of mates and fellow writers were often the key. There's a major source of info about Australia's literary culture collected in this stuff, but it's not being used as much as it could be.

AI:

Niall's bio makes you wonder whether the label "author" does justice to Joan Lindsay's name. Although Lindsay wrote fiction, art criticism, and various forms of journalism and achieved a degree of success, her writing often left her feeling unfulfilled and frustrated.

Fair dinkum, until Picnic at Hanging Rock, of course. Lindsay's ripper of a success with this novel – published in '67 when she was 71 and launched, as it happens, by the Hon Bob Menzies – inevitably shapes the structure of Niall's book. It dominates the last two chapters, having been flagged in passing observations and puzzled questions throughout.

Niall sparks Lindsay's interest and encouraging questioning about the making of the film and its reception.

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Discretion, silences, and underachievement seem to have characterised a lot of Lindsay's creative and, possibly, personal life. The word "mystery" keeps popping up throughout Niall's book. It's used to describe bits of Lindsay's childhood and her marriage – which she rarely talked or wrote about – her lack of kids, her ambitions and setbacks, and her reluctance to discuss those sides of her creative life.

The "mysteries" have finally found expression in Picnic at Hanging Rock, with its famously enigmatic story about a group of schoolgirls who vanish without a trace. Niall's book makes the point that the (often unspoken) issues and aspirations from Lindsay's earlier life are connected to the unresolved mysteries in the novel.

Art and marriage

And was influenced by the imagery from his landscape paintings.

She was at a distance from her mother, who adored British culture, and her two lively older sisters. Her father seems to have been an intriguing bloke, but he's also a bit of an enigma in this yarn. The fact that she didn't have a close family or a stable home life is portrayed as a significant factor in shaping Lindsay's later life.

The future deputy prime minister and Australian governor-general, was a significant colleague and collaborator, and they shared an inner-Melbourne art studio in the early 1920s.

Daryl was the ninth kid and sixth bloke in the Lindsay family and a "loner since he was a nipper". He had a few different jobs, including banking and jackarooing, but started drawing during World War I in France, then in a hospital in England, where he was given the job of sketching the facial injuries of wounded diggers.

A teacher at the Slade School of Art, and Tonks offered him a spot in the Slade's drawing classes. London seemed like a world of possibilities for an emerging artist.

The whirlwind romance between Joan and Daryl in London is a bit of a mystery. They tied the knot in early 1922, just over eight weeks after Joan had left Melbourne. While in London, they spent their time checking out the galleries. Joan also hit it off with Tonks, who painted her, capturing “a yearning, a sense of mystery, a visionary inner life” – a fascinating work that's featured in Niall's book.

Artists, politicians and influential mates

When the pair got back to Melbourne, Daryl started working as a commercial illustrator, churning out work for ads, news papers and mags. Joan dabbled in a range of journalistic writing – interviews, essays, travel pieces and some reviews of art exhibitions. Niall reckons she had the potential to become a top-notch art critic, although such roles usually went to blokes.

The influential collector of Australian art, were acquaintances.

In 1926, a joint exhibition received positive feedback for Joan's paintings, but Daryl's work was the standout in Sydney. Given that most competitions have a clear winner and loser, Joan decided that Daryl would be the artist and she would focus on writing. Unfortunately, much of her artwork ceased at this early stage. Only one of her paintings is featured in her biography.

Niall maps out the significant milestones in the couple's life. The crucial move was their purchase in 1925 of the house they called Mulberry Hill on Victoria's Mornington Peninsula. A sizeable renovation added "a second storey, an imposing entrance in American colonial style, a stable block, and a big garden that would become Joan's main interest". The house also gained a large dining room, a drawing room, a studio, and a small room that became Joan's "scribbling room".

would later become residents.

He'd already done some unpaid work in London with agents of the National Gallery of Victoria's Felton Bequest. Back in Australia, Murdoch's influence helped Daryl land a curator job, which eventually led to him becoming the gallery director.

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(1949), writing on art in Australia.

A buried career

I've spent a fair dinkum chunk of this review going on about Joan Lindsay's life and marriage, rather than focusing on Niall's book as a study of Joan Lindsay's character and creative side. The book does mention the mysteries or puzzles in Lindsay's life, her not-so-secret unhappiness in her marriage, and her hidden career ambitions. But it doesn't always dig into what it all means.

The childless marriage and the couple's differing views on living in London and Melbourne are examined. Joan felt more at home in Melbourne, making Mulberry Hill a lively domestic space. Niall suggests Lindsay's "deep creative spirit" was nearly suffocated by her roles as a wife and hostess. Lindsay's disconnection from Melbourne's literary scene is also highlighted.

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Her life with Daryl and her uneven, then remarkable, contribution to the writing world does, though, give us a better insight into the cultural networks – and their drawbacks – in mid-20th century Australia.

David Carter does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article. He has previously received funding from the Australian Research Council.