Author(s): Deborah Shepard

New Zealand

Pragmatism, humour, stubborn bloody-mindedness - what else does a woman need to carry her through the ups and downs of her life's work?

Her Life's Work chronicles the extraordinary life stories of five New Zealand women - Jacqueline Fahey, Merimeri Penfold, Anne Salmond, Gaylene Preston and Margaret Mahy. As artists, writers, teachers, filmmakers and thinkers each has carved out an impressive career, balancing society's gender expectations with the pursuit of a meaningful identity through creative work. Born between 1920 and 1947, these iconic women experienced immense changes in society during the 20th century that directly affected their working and personal lives. Their stories touch on major public events and challenges - the Land March in 1975, the rise of feminism, the occupation of Bastion Point, the Springbok tour of New Zealand.

Author Deborah Shepard weaves a compelling narrative, based on in-depth interviews with these five women. Her Life's Work encompasses their candid reflections on the influences that both spurred and stalled their creative careers - education and training opportunities, friends and mentors, aspirations, disappointments, and the experience of intimate relationships, motherhood and domesticity. Including new photographs by Marti Friedlander, Her Life's Work is a revealing portrait of women's lives - showing how is possible to lead a life rich in family experience while maintaining work as a central passion.