Introduced by Favel Parrett
'Mother's stomach bellied out like a sail. Young, she was unable to say no to anyone who asked her to make love. Her reasons for her behaviour were all her own; never, after she'd had me did she allow another man to enter her; my birth was her real marriage. And when I was six, she shut herself away entirely.'
A Woman of the Future, first published in 1979, was David Ireland's best-selling sixth novel and his third to win the Miles Franklin Award.
An imaginative tour de force, it is the story of the young life of Anthea Hunt-from conception to sexual awakening. It is controversial and brilliant, and unlike anything else in Australian literature.
Now published as a Text Classic, it features a new introduction from Kate Jennings.
'Immense originality, wit and gritty wisdom...David Ireland has reached the top.' Patrick White
'Superlative powers of observation...a very rewarding read.' Manning Clark
www.textclassics.com.au