The Strays

Listed in the Visual Arts category on Art In Fiction, The Strays (2017) is Emily Bitto’s debut novel.  On her first day at a new school, Lily befriends one of the daughters of infamous avant-garde painter Evan Trentham. Lily has never experienced anything like the Trenthams' home, where Evan and his wife have created a wild, makeshift family of like-minded artists, all living and working together to escape the stifling conservatism of 1930's Australia. An only child accustomed to loneliness, Lily soon becomes infatuated with the creative chaos of the Trenthams and aches to fully belong. Despite the Trenthams' glamorous allure, the artists' real lives are shaped by dire Faustian bargains and spectacular falls from grace. As the girls find themselves drawn closer to the white-hot flame of creativity, emotions and art collide with explosive consequences--and Evan's own daughters may be forced to pay a dangerous price for his choices. “Bitto’s scenes . . . are vividly written, almost painterly.”— New York Times Book Review Emily Bitto lives in Melbourne. She has a Masters in Literary Studies and a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Melbourne. Emily has been teaching for over a decade and has taught creative writing at The University of Melbourne, RMIT, Victoria University and the Faber Writing Academy. Her writing has appeared in various publications, including Meanjin, Island, HEAT, the Monthly, the Age, the Saturday Paper, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Big Issue fiction edition. The Strays was shortlisted for the 2013 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for an Unpublished Manuscript, and the published novel went on to win the 2015 Stella Prize. It was also shortlisted for The Indie Book Award for Debut Fiction, the NSW Premier’s Prize for New Writing, and the Dobbie Literary Award, and longlisted for the Dublin IMPAC prize. Emily’s second novel, Wild Abandon , was published by Allen and Unwin in October 2021. Emily is an obsessive reader, music fan, cook and dog-carer (having fostered 11 rescue dogs in one year).  Buy Now from Amazon Buy Now from Bookshop