Publisher's synopsis

Stella Bowen and Grace Cossington Smith were born a year apart, in the antipodean autumns of 1893 and 1892 respectively. Beyond this fact their lives were very different. One was a good cook; the other was not. One left Australia on the eve of the First World War and lived the rest of her life in Europe; the other lived for decades in the same house on the outskirts of Sydney. For one Paris and famous names; for the other the quiet life of a provincial suburb. One went off to find a life of art; the art of the other grew out of the life she lived. The bohemian and the spinster. They are like mirror images of each other.

Already a bestseller in hardback, Stravinsky’s Lunch is both a continuation of Drusilla Modjeska’s previous work and an exciting new departure, and explores the ways in which love, art, and life intersect.

Awards

Winner 1999 NSW Premier’s Prize for Non-fiction