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.