Daisy Bates in the Desert

'She writes a harmonious, euphoric prose that is... a delight to read.' - SPECTATOR In 1913, when she was fifty-four years old, Daisy Bates went to live in the deserts of South Australia, and there she stayed for almost thirty years. She left a record of her life in her letters, her published articles and book, and in scribbled notes. But very little of what this strange woman tells about herself is true. For her there were no boundaries separating experience from imagination. Julia Blackburn explores the desolate landscape where Mrs Bates was most happy. Almost imperceptibly, she fuses her own imagination and experience with that of Daisy Bates.