I'm very excited to finally read this. Some of you may know but this is one of my all-time favourite films and I've wanted to read the book forever. I have a few various tidbits that may be of interest:
-It's been awhile since I've read this and I'm avoiding reading up on it again until I've read the book, but the gist is that one final chapter was left out of the book. It was later published, so anyone who wants can also read the chapter not part of the actual book, but that's all I'll say for now to avoid any spoilers at this early date in the discussion.
-I was surprised to learn that Lindsay was in her 60s when writing this book and had only written a few books before this. This would place her as being a very young girl around the time of the events.
-I read a book called The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides which I've always thought had a very similar feel to (the film of) Picnic at Hanging Rock. I wouldn't be surprised if Eugenides was inspired by Lindsay.
-There are many adaptations of this book. Of course there's the famous 1970s film. There's the new mini-series starring Natalie Dormer who may also be familiar to some as Margaery Tyrell from Game of Thrones. There are two original (separately written) plays of it and also a musical adaptation.
-I've seen the book's genre described variously as mystery, historical fiction and even Australian gothic.
-Here are some pics of Hanging Rock:
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