In the world of Mad Meg, life is consumed by art. The present is unalterably coloured by the silences, loyalties and betrayals of the past.

Isobel tries to unravel the secrets of her parents: her kind but crazy mother, Stella, and her rogue but dearly loved father, Henri. Her campaigning sister, Allegra, struggles with the realities of the passing of time as she is drawn into a maelstrom of protestation and parenthood.

Sally Morrison's classic, award-winning novel draws the reader through a tangle of intersecting lives set against a tapestry of twentieth-century European politics.

Mad Meg explores the gaps between choices and compulsions, artists and phonies, and kinship and friendship.

'... a big handsome book – a splendid essay on "the mess"!' David Marr on ABC Radio

'... a large, ambitious novel ... colourful and memorable ... an impressive work of fiction.' Andrew Riemer in The Age

'... her touch is deft and imaginative.' Joanna Murray-Smith in The Weekend Australian