AustLit

A matchmaker finds Angelo a promising prospect for a wife in Southern Italy. Angelo sends her his handsomer, younger brother Gino's photograph. The marriage ceremony is performed with the bride (Rosetta) and Angelo still on separate continents. When the beautiful Rosetta arrives confusion reigns while she, Angelo, Gino, and Gino's fiance try to unravel who loves who.

Set in the 1930s, Sirens explores the world of controversial Australian painter Norman Lindsay. Scandalised by a provocative series of Lindsay paintings, the Anglican Church sends young clergyman Anthony Campion and his wife Estella to take up a new parish in the country west of Sydney. Newly arrived in the country from England, the couple stop en route at Lindsay's house in the Blue Mountains, where Campion tries to persuade the artist to withdraw an etching from a coming international exhibition. Three young models (Sheela, Prue and Giddy) are currently staying on the property. Under their sensual influence, Estella feels increasingly estranged from her husband as he tries vainly to convince Lindsay to withdraw the offending picture from the exhibition. Like Giddy, Estella is beguiled by a tall, striking-looking man who lives in the bush nearby. Her dreams intensify, and she reaches a crisis that threatens her self-respect and her marriage.