Quentin Bryce

Fascinating, candid and insightful, Quentin Bryce- The Authorised Biography tells the remarkable story of one of Australia's most impactful changemakers.

When Quentin Bryce was sworn in as Australia's first female governor-general in 2008, she made history. It was one of many firsts in a trailblazing career dedicated to reform and serving community.

Her early childhood in a western Queensland bush town shaped her sense of self and her destiny. Young Quentin dreamed of changing the world and then set out to do it. She was the first from her school to go to university and among the first women admitted to the Queensland Bar. In revolutionary times her advocacy for human rights - especially for women, children and First Nations Australians - underpinned her every role, which included teaching in the male-dominated university law faculty, federal sex discrimination commissioner, CEO of the National Childcare Accreditation Council, principal of Sydney's Women's College, governor of Queensland and Australia's governor-general.

This biography traces the triumphs and the barriers as Quentin shattered glass ceilings and reveals the woman behind the high offices she held. Mother of five and grandmother to twelve, it is her partnership with soulmate Michael Bryce and the love of family, enduring friendships and belief in community that have sustained her. Her passion for the arts and elemental connection to Australia's ancient landscape feed her soul.

Fascinating, candid and insightful, Quentin Bryce- The Authorised Biography tells the remarkable story of one of Australia's most impactful changemakers.

About the Author

Juliet Rieden is an author, journalist, magazine editor, book reviewer, and royal correspondent. Her previous books include The Writing on the Wall, a personal investigation into Juliet’s family’s fate in the Holocaust; Rising Heart, the memoir of Sierra Leonean kidnap survivor Aminata Conteh-Biger; and The Royals in Australia. Juliet has been a journalist for more than 35 years in Australia and the UK, including 14 years at the Australian Women’s Weekly. Her extensive portfolio of interviewees includes former prime ministers Jacinda Ardern and Malcolm Turnbull; international artists Dame Helen Mirren, Glenn Close, Sally Field, Dame Joanna Lumley and Cate Blanchett; writers Clive James, Hilary Mantel, and Mary Beard; royals King Charles III, Queen Camilla, Princess Anne and Queen Mary of Denmark. Juliet is the royal commentator for the ABC and contributes to TV and radio networks in Australia and internationally. As a literary curator for the Queen’s Reading Room, Queen Camilla’s charity and literary hub, Juliet brings the work of Australian authors to an international audience.