"Melbourne in the mist. Tucked between substance and mirage, her city of shifting presences. There was surely nowhere else more alluringly ghostly. She seldom felt alone. Clarice and Melbourne were joined; the paintings of her city were love poems, a consummation." In 1914, Clarice Beckett sought the unusual, resisting social conventions by pursuing a career in painting, defying her family by yearning for a life of passion and sensuality. Her atmospheric, enigmatic landscapes garnered little approval from critics, who disparaged her style and subjects. Despite this censure, Clarice refused to compromise, unconventionally exploring her sexuality while relentlessly pursuing her talent. Unearthing the remarkable in the mundane, she transmuted simple cityscapes and seaside terrains into revelatory works of art. This extraordinary story found its roots when Kristel Thornell first encountered the paintings of the now-famous Clarice Beckett at the Art Gallery of South Australia. The subtle power of Beckett's landscapes prompted her to imagine Clarice.s inner life, shaping the artist's history into a hauntingly erotic novel.
