In late 1932, Iris Webber arrives in Sydney looking for work but the city is still in the grip of the Great Depression and there are few jobs for women at the best of times. She makes her way as best she can: a scam here, a shoplift there, busking with an accordion. And she knows how to use a gun. When Iris meets Maisie Matthews, everything changes. But what options are there in a world where even on the margins, queer desire is harshly punished? The only way forward is paved with violence. Whip smart, resolute, a woman far ahead of her time, Iris navigates these mean streets with a growing awareness not just of herself, but also of the system enclosing her: narrow, corrupt, brutally prejudiced. Yet there is still joy to be had, sometimes even transcendence. From acclaimed best-selling author of Indelible Ink comes another great novel of the city. Peeling back the layers of history, McGregor weaves a teeming social portrait of schemers, gamblers, goodtime girls, gangsters and sly-groggers. Based on actual events, narrated in gritty lyrical prose, Iris is a dazzling literary achievement from one of Australia's most exciting writers. Iris’s voice will hypnotise you.


Fiona Kelly McGregor has published eight books including Indelible Ink , which won Age Book of the Year and was shortlisted for several other awards; short story collection Suck My Toes, which won a QLD Literary Award (Steele Rudd); essay collection Buried Not Dead, shortlisted for the VPLA and the genre-busting photo-
essay A Novel Idea. McGregor is also known for a repertoire of performance art and event curation and contributes regularly to The Saturday Paper, Sydney Review of Books and The Monthly . When in Sydney, she lives and works on Gadigal land.