Description
Cheryl Adam's Lillian's Eden takes the reader on a journey through rural post-war life in the midst of a family attempting to survive on a pittance. Lillian is confronted by her impecunious, philandering and violent husband but agrees to move from the farm that she has built up from scratch to the coastal town of Eden to look after Aunt Maggie. Aunt Maggie is a wonderfully drawn eccentric character but Lillian has to work out just how to make this relationship work. Cheryl Adam's novel reminds us of Ruth Park and Kylie Tennant with its raw richness.
About the Author
Cheryl Adam spent her childhood in rural Australia where her love of storytelling began. In adulthood, she travelled widely and lived overseas including in Zambia (then Northern Rhodesia), Kenya, South Africa, Norway, Jersey, England and Sweden. She has been evicted, kidnapped, abandoned, made homeless and discriminated against in her foreign adventures and this helped develop her deep empathy for the plight of immigrant women, as for Lillian in this story. Cheryl married in Africa, had five children and returned to Australia after a seventeen-year absence. She became a student again at 46, completing three degrees in visual art as well as being a carer for her husband. Her concern for marginalised women and the environment took her to the Philippines where she taught homeless women how to create useable art from plastic bags developing a cottage industry. This experience launched her writing ambitions and she began a creative writing course at Holmesglen TAFE in Melbourne. She is a proud grandmother and Lillian's Eden is her first (but not her last!) published novel.
Reviews
Lillian's Eden opens a magic door into 1950s rural Australia. It is an elegantly-paced, colourful excursion down memory lane, complete with money worries, murky family secrets, an eccentric old aunt, an abusive, adulterous husband, and a feisty, courageous wife. Tragedy, comedy, farce, tenderness, triumph - and grit. - Carmel Bird
Book Information
ISBN 9781925581676
Author Cheryl Adam
Format Paperback
Page Count 410
Imprint Spinifex Press
Publisher Spinifex Press
About the Author
Cheryl Adam spent her childhood in rural Australia where her love of storytelling began. In adulthood, she travelled widely and lived overseas including in Zambia (then Northern Rhodesia), Kenya, South Africa, Norway, Jersey, England and Sweden. She has been evicted, kidnapped, abandoned, made homeless and discriminated against in her foreign adventures and this helped develop her deep empathy for the plight of immigrant women, as for Lillian in this story. Cheryl married in Africa, had five children and returned to Australia after a seventeen-year absence. She became a student again at 46, completing three degrees in visual art as well as being a carer for her husband. Her concern for marginalised women and the environment took her to the Philippines where she taught homeless women how to create useable art from plastic bags developing a cottage industry. This experience launched her writing ambitions and she began a creative writing course at Holmesglen TAFE in Melbourne. She is a proud grandmother and Lillian's Eden is her first (but not her last!) published novel.
Reviews
Lillian's Eden opens a magic door into 1950s rural Australia. It is an elegantly-paced, colourful excursion down memory lane, complete with money worries, murky family secrets, an eccentric old aunt, an abusive, adulterous husband, and a feisty, courageous wife. Tragedy, comedy, farce, tenderness, triumph - and grit. - Carmel Bird
Book Information
ISBN 9781925581676
Author Cheryl Adam
Format Paperback
Page Count 410
Imprint Spinifex Press
Publisher Spinifex Press
