A vivid and fascinating biography of artist Joy Hester. A highly talented artist in her own right, Joy Hester's fame also derives from her marriage to Albert Tucker and her close friendship with John and Sunday Reed, arguably Australia's most influential art patrons. Dead at the age of forty, Joy Hester's life was intense and controversial. At a time when women were supposed to be modest and unassuming, Joy was larger than life: sexual, raw, earthy. Her relationship with Tucker was fraught and difficult - and ultimately unsustainable. This book also portrays Australia's rich and vibrant artistic community, including Nolan, Vassilieff, Perceval and Boyd.