AustLit

'Since Joan Lindsay's Picnic at Hanging Rock (1967) was published over fifty years ago, it has captivated critics and readers alike. Peter Weir's influential 1975 cinematic adaptation brought the tale to an even wider audience, both national and international. The success of the film, however, has been double edged, for while it brought fame to the story, it has overshadowed the book, such that the novel and film tend to be erroneously spoken of in tandem or synonymously. Fifty years on, it is time to reconsider Picnic at Hanging Rock unmoored from its cinematic adaptation, especially in light of Janelle McCulloch's recent book Beyond the Rock (2017). Among McCulloch's many revelations is that Lindsay's literary imagination was significantly influenced by the works of the American novelist Henry James (1843– 1916). McCulloch discloses that "Joan particularly admired his novel The Turn of the Screw which she called 'a mysterious tale that was half-truth and half fiction'" (137). McCulloch does not, however, offer any detail or analysis of how and to what extent Lindsay's regard for James's work, written almost a century earlier, might have influenced her own. Certainly, there are some obvious parallels between Picnic at Hanging Rock and The Turn of the Screw, including the lack of a satisfying ending.' (Introduction)