The Book of Iris: A Life of Robin Hyde

Derek Challis

Author: Derek Challis
Availability: No longer in print or stock
Format: Hardback
Pages: 800
Published: December 2002
Specs: 24.0cm x 17.0cm
ISBN: 9781869402679

This extraordinary biography of Robin Hyde (Iris Wilkinson) fills a major gap in our literary history.

The Book of Iris is a gripping and profoundly moving story which includes appalling accounts of hidden pregnancies, experience as a solo mother, dependence on drugs, intimate acquaintance with sexism and poverty, mental breakdown, an extraordinary trip in China during the Sino-Japanese war.

Hyde is revealed here, especially in her letters, as a feisty, witty, courageous woman rather than the languid and sentimental adolescent laughed at by contemporaryy male writers.

Author

More about Derek Challis

Reviews

. . . a compelling account of the life of a courageous and driven writer. – Anne Pender, Times Literary Supplement