The Strays

WINNER OF AUSTRALIA'S 2015 STELLA PRIZE

For readers of Atonement, a powerful and haunting story of three sisters and their friend who grow up on the outskirts of their parents' glamorous bohemian lifestyle.

On her first day at a new school, Lily befriends one of the daughters of infamous avant-garde painter Evan Trentham. In an attempt to escape the stifling conservatism of 1930's Australia, Evan and his wife create a wild, makeshift family of like-minded artists, all living and working in the Trenthams' home. Lily, an only child, becomes infatuated with the creative chaos of the Trenthams and longs to fully belong.

As the years pass, Lily sees how the themes in their art begin to shape the real lives of the artists, with dire Faustian bargains and spectacular falls from grace. As the girls find themselves irresistibly drawn closer and closer to the white-hot flame of creativity, emotions and art collide with explosive consequences. While the outside world rages over the new fashion of "modernism" and its challenges to society, events inside Evan's colony take on their own momentum, changing lives forever. And it's not Evan but his own daughters who may be forced to pay a dangerous price for his choices.

Emily Bitto has a Masters in Literary Studies and a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Melbourne. She lives in Melbourne, Australia, where she also owns and runs a successful wine bar called Heartattack and Vine.