Nolan felt bewildered and betrayed by White's turning against him, and was hurt by the virulence of the attack, particularly coming from such an unexpected quarter. He had had no inkling that there was anything amiss with their hitherto close friendship.

(The London-based Australian critic Charles Osborne had sent a copy of the book to Nolan in Sydney, seeking his reaction. For the moment Nolan said nothing - in print.)

At the time Nolan read Flaws in the Glass in 1982, he was in the process of painting his new series of works based on Lawrence's Kangaroo.

For some time Nolan had been "illustrating" themes derived from Australian culture and history, searching for iconic figures, such as Ned Kelly, to represent or symbolise them.

After reading Kangaroo he chose various scenes from the novel to represent - to borrow Lawrence's famous phrase - "the spirit of the place".

The first six of the eight pictures are lyrical, almost-pastoral images.

In one, "Rainbow", Somers and Harriett are seen walking along the beach at Thirroul. In "Picnic Falls" the couple are dwarfed by the bush landscape around them. "Moon" shows a bright yellow disc suspended over Perth. "Heaven" shows the couple among the wattle blossoms in the bush.

"Streamers" (see above) shows the Lawrences' boat is leaving the wharf in Sydney, streamers still attached to it side. "Chic" (also see above) depicts the couple about to make love after a swim.

It now seems likely that these six works were painted before Nolan read Flaws in the Glass - or at least before it had time to sink into his consciousness.

The final two works, however, display a sharp change of mood (perhaps analogous to the "sudden turning" of Lawrence's "silvery freedom" in Kangaroo).

The cruellest was the diptych, which Nolan called "Nightmare".

He had been deeply moved by "The Nightmare" chapter in Kangaroo (where the Somers/Lawrence character is called up for army service and humiliated by intrusive physical examinations).

However, the diptych which emerged from Nolan's pen and brush in October 1982 went far beyond anything which Lawrence's chapter could have evoked.