Bad Art Mother

Edwina Preston

Good mothers are expected to be selfless. Artists are seen as selfish.So what does this mean for a mother with artistic ambitions?Enter: frustrated poet Veda Gray, who is offered a Faustian bargain when a wealthy childless couple, the Parishes, invite her to exchange her young son Owen for time to write.Veda’s story unfolds as an adult Owen reflects on his boyhood in the Melbourne suburbs, and in the vibrant bohemian inner-city art world where his restaurateur father was a king. Meanwhile, the talented women in his orbit – Veda, Mrs Parish, wife of an influential poet, muralist and restaurant worker Rosa – push against gender expectations to be recognised as legitimate artists, by their intimates and the wider world. And almost-aunt Ornella, who declares herself without an artistic bone in her body, is perhaps the closest thing Owen has to a traditional mother. As Owen is encouraged to ‘be a man’, he loses something of himself, too.Blending wit and pathos, love and fury, ambition and loss, this is an extraordinary novel of love and art, set in the Melbourne milieu of Georges and Mirka Mora, Joy Hester, and John and Sunday Reed.

‘A magnificent panorama of a novel.’

- — Christos Tsiolkas

Media Release

Release: May-2022

ISBN: 9781743059012

RRP (AUD): $32.95

Pages: 336

Format: Paperback

Category: Feminist literature

Edwina Preston

Edwina Preston is a Melbourne-based writer and musician.

Wakefield Press

Wakefield Press is a leading independent publishing company based in South Australia. We love good stories and publish beautiful books. We publish on a diverse range of topics, including fiction, history, biography, art, food, and the environment. We also have a dedicated young adult list.