Naked Ambition

"You're a politician, a public figure. What on earth were you thinking?"

Up-and-coming junior minister Gregory Buchanan has had a portrait painted of himself by the acclaimed artist Sophie White-a painting she intends to enter in this year's Archibald Prize. Until then, Gregory has hung it in pride of place on his dining-room wall. It's a life-sized standing portrait, practically photographic in nature. And it's a nude.

His wife will be home soon and he thinks the painting will be a pleasant surprise. Even more surprising will be an unexpected accumulation of guests: his sardonic mother, his fundamentalist mother-in-law, his lesbian sister, and the state governor, Louisa Wetherly-a senior government member has just resigned in scandalous circumstances, and she needs Gregory to step into the spotlight ahead of the coming election.

It's going to be a wild afternoon, and an even wilder campaign-to do something about Gregory's naked ambition.