The Steele Diaries

Wendy James

Jan 2020 · Bolinda · Narrated by Katherine Tonkin

Audiobook

11 hr 47 min

Unabridged

Eligible

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About this audiobook

It is as if I am slowly sinking in the water, just occasionally making it back to the top for a gulp of air – to a sort of memory of what life can be – what life should be – and then down, down, down I go again ... The only child of two famous but self-absorbed artists, Zelda Steele is adopted by her parents’ patrons when she is just a baby. Great things are expected of this privileged young woman, but at 27 years old, Zelda is dead, leaving two young children and a body of work that only hints at her promise. Decades later, Zelda's daughter Ruth returns to her childhood home to find the diaries her mother is rumoured to have kept. What they reveal takes her on a journey into the past: her mother's, her grandmothers and ultimately, her own. Weaving together the narratives of three very different women, living in vastly different times, The Steele Diaries paints a rich and evocative portrait of the Sydney art scene from the 30s to the 70s and the eternal conflict between motherhood and self.

About the author

Wendy James is the celebrated author of eight novels, including the bestselling The Mistake and the compelling The Golden Child, which was shortlisted for the 2017 Ned Kelly Award for crime. Her debut novel, Out of the Silence, won the 2006 Ned Kelly Award for first crime novel, and was shortlisted for the Nita May Dobbie award for women's writing. Wendy works as an editor at the Australian Institute of Health Innovation and writes some of the sharpest and most topical domestic noir novels in the country.

A graduate of the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, Katherine has worked with a number of Australia’s leading mainstage and independent theatre companies, as well as festivals both nationally and overseas. Katherine is also known for her work on Australian television, featuring in shows such as Neighbours and Blue Heelers.

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