Restless Dolly Maunder

SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN''S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2024

The international bestselling author of The Secret River andA Room Made of Leaves returns with a fictionalised account of her grandmother’slife, commemorating a strong female character making the best out of the timesand society she was born in.

Dolly Maunder is born at the end of the nineteenth century,when society’s long-locked doors are just starting to creak ajar for determinedwomen. Growing up in a poor farming family in rural New South Wales, Dollyspends her life doggedly pushing at those doors. A husband and two children donot deter her from searching for love and independence.

Restless Dolly Maunder is a subversive, triumphant tale of apioneering woman working her way through a world of limits and obstacles, whois able – despite the cost – to make a life she could call her own.