Girl in a Pink Dress

Is it ever really possible for two ambitious artists to thrive in one relationship?

Frances is an artist in her forties living a quiet life in a remote mountain town in NSW, far away from the glittering lights and famous personalities of the Sydney art world she once knew. When an invitation arrives from a former lover to attend his exhibition at a state gallery, Frances is plunged back into the past, where a single irrevocable act changed the course of her story.

Told across two time periods, Frances's story wrestles with themes of power and privilege, womanhood and motherhood, artistic doubt, the male gaze upon the female body, and the commodification of art. It looks at the fraught relationships between artists and their muses, the sacrifices of a life devoted to art, and asks if it is ever really possible for two ambitious artists to thrive in one relationship.

About the Author

Kylie Needham is an award-winning screenwriter. She holds a Bachelor of Arts/Communications (Theatre/Media) from Charles Sturt University and both a Master of Arts (English Literature) and a Master of Creative Writing from Macquarie University. Kylie has won two AWGIE (Australian Writers’ Guild) Awards for television scriptwriting. Her work has been published in the Better Read Than Dead Writing Anthology 2019, The Quarry Journal and the exhibition catalogue 2014 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art: Dark Heart. She lives in the Southern Highlands of NSW. This is her first novel.