Who is Iris Webber?

A thief, a fighter, a wife, a lover.

A scammer, a schemer, a friend.

A musician, a worker, a big-hearted fool.

A woman who has prevailed against the toughest gangsters of the day, defying police time and again, yet is now trapped in a prison cell.

Guilty or innocent?

Rollicking through the underbelly of 1930s sly-grog Sydney, Iris is a dazzling literary achievement from one of Australia's finest writers. Based on actual events and set in an era of cataclysmic change, here is a fierce, fascinating tale of a woman who couldn't be held back.


SHORTLISTED FOR THE MILES FRANKLIN LITERARY AWARD 2023
SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2023 NSW PREMIER'S LITERARY AWARDS CHRISTINA STEAD PRIZE FOR FICTION
SHORTLISTED FOR THE ALS GOLD MEDAL 2023
SHORTLISTED FOR THE ARA HISTORICAL NOVEL PRIZE ADULT CATEGORY 2023
LONGLISTED FOR THE STELLA PRIZE 2023
LONGLISTED FOR THE ABDA BOOK DESIGN AWARDS 2023 BEST DESIGNED LITERARY FICTION COVER
LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKPEOPLE ADULT FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023


PRAISE FOR IRIS

'The story of Iris had to be told, and Fiona Kelly McGregor has produced the roughest but most invaluable diamond.' Tony Birch

'There's a magical conjuring up here, a dream-building of people, place and things. Iris is to me not just a great urban novel, but maybe the best Australian city novel ever.' Peter Doyle

'Visceral and immediate and relevant. It's a stunner.' Hannah Kent

'A vivid, arresting voice ... Utterly gripping. Love it.' Lucy Treloar

'A brawling, picaresque book by one of our foremost cartographers of settler Sydney.' Declan Fry, The Sydney Morning Herald

'Vivid and panoramic.' The Times / The Conversation

'Intimate and exuberant.' Gemma Nisbet, The West Australian

'Exceptional ... This book had me in its clutches for an unusually long time. I didn't want to let it - or Iris - go.' Alison Huber, Readings Bookshop

'An exhilarating squeezebox of a novel.' Felicity Plunkett, The Australian Book Review

'McGregor's Iris is a bold example of literary craft that demonstrates a profound historical understanding of place and time. The experience of Iris - a woman defiant in the face of injustice, and fierce, despite hardship - in a time of economic pain, social uncertainty, and looming war, remains starkly relevant today.' Stella Prize Judges

'Iris's charisma is a constant presence across the novel, carried almost entirely by her distinctive voice, the most striking and compelling feature of this work.' Fiona Wright