Art Hour at the Duchess Hotel

A warm-hearted novel about friendship, fresh starts and finding yourself from Top Ten bestselling author Sophie Green.

Mornington Peninsula, 1999. All Joan ever wanted was to be a painter, but after thirty-five years of marriage, she finds she is simply a wife, mother and good citizen. On a whim, she escapes to the grand Duchess Hotel to find herself.

At the Duchess, Frances drops by most days to escape her daughter, Alison, who seems intent on putting her in a home, while hotel maid Kirrily is struggling to balance work, family and her dreams.

When Joan decides to pick up a brush and start painting again, she inspires Frances and Kirrily—and, eventually, Alison—to join her. Over canvas, conversation and creativity, the women learn to hold onto their dreams and live life on their own terms.

'A great book club pick for fans of Elizabeth Strout's Lucy by the Sea, Meg Bignell's The Angry Women's Choir and Joanna Nell's Mrs Winterbottom Takes a Gap Year' BOOKS+PUBLISHING

'Deftly crafted by an author who knows how to conjure her characters, where to put them and which stories they will tell to evince a swathe of emotions in each of us' LIVING ARTS CANBERRA