It's the beginning of the twentieth century and young Thea Hodge lives with her family in the picturesque Adelaide hills. There's her father, who's hiding his drinking from her mother, her mother, who's hiding from reality, and her older sister who seems all set to get married. But when her sister strays from the path that should lead her down the aisle, Thea comes to realise that in her world, there's a price to pay for those who don't conform. An evocative, richly realised novel of a society on the brink of change. First published in 1978. As Geoff Page wrote in The Canberra Times on its release, 'The main concern of the novel ... [is] the gap between the polite, class-conscious exterior of Edwardian life and its more seamy underside.' A recent review by Melinda Rackham in The Conversation of 'Bee-stung Lips', a travelling exhibition of Hanrahan's visual art, calls her 'an Australian feminist artist you need to know'. The inclusion of Where the Queens All Strayed...

Rediscover the dark magic of Barbara Hanrahan’s visionary gothic novel. Nothing is as it seems in this twisted fairytale of moral ambiguity and corrupted innocence. Just as the tropical beauty of The Frangipani Gardens conceals its inherent menace, watercolour painter Doll lives a prim, respectable existence belying her wildest fantasies. But when her young niece and nephew come to stay, Doll’s true self threatens to be exposed. Barbara Hanrahan was a prolific Australian visual artist and author, publishing fifteen books in under two decades. The Frangipani Gardens, first released in 1980, was shortlisted for The Age Book of the Year, her second shortlisting for the award in as many years. Her bestselling semi-autobiographical novel The Scent of Eucalyptus remains in print.