A thoroughly enjoyable, well written read with a good story line and interesting and amusing characters . The story takes place in post WWII Australia. Lillian and her husband Eric, along with their three children are leaving his family's farm and moving to Eden. Eric's Aunt Maggie also happens to live in Eden and is in need of some assistance. Maggie is the owner of two homes and Eric and Lillian are hoping that in exchange for helping her, they will be invited to live in one of her houses. Lillian and Aunt Maggie come to an understanding of sorts and the story meanders through the ups and downs of the relationships between Eric, Lillian and their children, with Aunt Maggie. She is a character and Eric and Lillian have their own issues. Definitely recommend.

Lillian's Eden, is an excellent first novel from Cheryl Adams. Set in rural Australia post WWII, Lillain is a battered wife caught in the all to common traps of poverty, child rearing, and an inescapable drinking and carousing husband, Eric. Between his gambling and adulterous binges Eric comes up with a way to support his family – they move in next door to an elderly aunt who Lillian will be totally responsible for. Despite the old aunt's bad humour, lack of cooperation and general meanness Lilian and the aunt manage to bond over planting and tending to her roses.
Lilian's life sinks into the depth of despair, every time she sees a glimpse of hope for better days something untoward occurs to shatter her dreams. She does not find herself and her self confidence until the final chapter when an unexpected gift from Auntie free her from her miserable life.
The novel is well written. Adam's descriptions take the reader into the heart of the story allowing them to feel euphoric at the final chapter of the story when Lilian receives her long overdue earthly reward and Eric is dispelled.

Lillian’s Eden has a rather classic feel to it, harking back to life during the 1950s in rural Australia. In many ways, it is reminiscent of The Dressmaker and Cloudstreet, with its element of the ridiculous that only comes with this type of nostalgic Australian fiction. Unflinchingly honest, this is a novel that will have you in stitches from laughter while stealing your breath away with its emotional intensity.

‘She cursed the day she had encouraged Aunt Maggie’s coffin idea. Eric thought she was pulling his leg when she told him, but he’d happily obliged. They’d given her their tea chests, helped her move an old bed into the shed and lent her tools. Building the coffin would keep Aunt Maggie occupied, stop her from bossing them around for a while. Lillian and Eric had complimented Aunt Maggie on her craftsmanship and laughed in the kitchen when her shed had rung with the sound of hammering. That’s how it went until the coffin was near completion. Now she was holding coffin practices. And these the whole family were expected to attend.’

Devoid of stereotypes, the characters that people this novel are richly rendered and highly memorable. The story itself is driven more by the characters and their dynamism than any actual events, and it’s in this where the story gets that ‘classic’ feel. We really are being treated to a slice of life, early 1950s, in small town Australia, warts and all. Many of the issues explored throughout Lillian’s Eden are relatable to contemporary times and none of the characters are passively sitting back within their own lives. Lillian and Maggie are both smart, strong, progressive women. So are Lillian’s daughters. Yet circumstances and societal expectations within the era are holding them all pinned in place. There were many entertaining moments throughout this novel, but my favourite would have to be Lillian’s mini breakdown over the laundry copper breaking:

‘Lillian looked at the red blister forming on Splinter’s foot and saw the water leaking through a small hole in the copper. It settled into a puddle of steam on the cement floor. She gazed around the hut that stole her Mondays: thought of the roses she had nurtured; cuttings she’d stolen from wealthy gardens at night armed with Aunt Maggie’s secateurs; the shooting, and something broke inside her. Grabbing the wash pole, she charged the clothesline. Pinioned forms swung and jerked beneath her blows. Sheets wrestled the pole as she belted the blazes out of them. Her eyes were popping mad. The backyard filled with barking and shrieking and Lillian unleashed her demons. The truck pulled up in the driveway. Eric jumped out and ran towards her. Lillian swung the pole back for the last mighty whack and collected him in the gut, knocking him off his feet. He lay on the ground winded, his eyes as big as the teacups she read.
“I want a bloody washing machine.”’

How I could relate to her fury! Too many things going wrong when you’ve got too many people to look after and too many things to get done. Everyone’s elastic stretches a little too thin at times. It’s this honesty in her character’s reactions that Cheryl Adam has nailed to perfection. It’s one thing to throw issues at them and test their mettle, but it’s how you guide them through that makes a novel go from good to even better. Both Maggie and Lillian were forces to be reckoned with, even if at times they didn’t fully realise this. Their relationship with each other, which caught them both by surprise, was beautifully rendered. Lillian’s respect for Maggie was in sharp contrast to Eric’s dismissal. To Lillian, Maggie was her friend and protector; to Eric, Maggie was an inheritance waiting in the wings. Maggie knew this too, which is something that really tugged on my heartstrings. To know you are only valued for the money you’ll be leaving behind is a sad state of affairs and I must admit, I was amused by how Maggie used this knowledge to her advantage against Eric.

All in all, Lillian’s Eden was an entertaining read from start to finish and I recommend it highly. It’s a very frank novel that doesn’t sugar coat reality, but it’s also nicely balanced and doesn’t ever push itself too far or give up too soon. As far as debuts go, Cheryl Adam is off to an incredibly good start.


Thanks is extended to Spinifex Press for providing me with a copy of Lillian’s Eden for review.

Great to see new Australian womens fiction set in rural Australia in the post-war period. This is a good debut and the story keeps you turning the pages. The relationship with the characters is good and we particularly enjoyed the ending. I think Australian libraries and their readers will really enjoy the book.

I wanted to like this book, but I never really got into it. Although I felt sympathy for Lillian's situation in life, I didn't feel like I really knew her. The way her character developed did not seem authentic. I was happy to see her rewarded for her loyalty to Aunt Maggie after she died, but I found the ending to be wrapped a little too neatly.

Lillian’s Eden has much going for it. Debut author Adam writes clearly and the story never wavers. The book’s real strength is its setting, which comes alive in the reader’s eyes. As a setting, Eden is no Eden, but Aunt Maggie’s presence, formidable and forbidding as it is, makes Eden a haven of sorts for Lillian, arguably the story’s main character. These strengths save the book from its weaknesses, the most glaring of which is the plot, which is predictable from the start. That, then leaves the characters. Although Lillian, and to a lesser extent, Aunt Maggie, are fairly well fleshed out, the others are mere cardboard cut-outs. None of the characters are really likeable, and one could argue that their faults serve to humanize them. Lillian’s Eden shows Adam’s potential. There is a better, perhaps even great, novel lurking within this one. I hope she continues to write and is served better by mentors and editors who can nurture her promise into reality.

I absolutely loved this book. It is filled with humour and evokes so many emotions within me. Lillian and Aunt Maggie are wonderful, strong characters, and experiencing how their relationship grows and changes both their lives is a joy. All the characters are very real. The children are good foils to their mother, and show a different side to Maggie, while Eric (and Mavis) just bring out anger and frustration.

Cheryl Adam portrays the social aspects of the story very well. In a time when women were predominantly regarded as chattels, it's encouraging to find strong women characters who can show what should be. Lillian is strong, even though she starts off extremely down-trodden, and the irony is that it's her husband who is ultimately the architect of his own downfall. Maggie is delightful in every way, and for me, she is the hero of the story. It's also an interesting insight into a time gone by, although the likelihood is that life in a small town is not much different, today.

The writing style flows easily, the dialogue is believable, and in all, it's a well-written, totally engaging story.

I was fortunate to read an advance copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.