A Flavour of the book: “He
brought the belt down on my pinafore with a muffled sound. No bloody good, he said crossly,
and pushed the pinafore up, pulled my bloomers down. When the belt came down again, it cracked against skin…”
The Authortrek View:
This is the story of Lilian Una Singer,
who starts off life in a prosperous if dysfunctional Victorian household. Her father, a writer and recorder of
facts, is a remote person with a rather twisted outlook on life. There is a respite when he falls
mysteriously ill, but not for long, as Lilian becomes a more direct victim of his
perverse sexual mores… However, as
the novel progresses, it becomes clear that Lilian has become more than a
little mad herself, or that she has, at the very least, what would now be
diagnosed as ‘learning difficulties’.
She certainly knows that her father has done wrong, but she is not
articulate enough to say what he has done. Her father then compounds the issue by having her committed… Kate Grenville is very bold and brave
with this, her debut novel, originally published in 1985. Canongate’s cover are usually quite
good, but on this occasion, they’ve gone for an image of a rather thin,
beautiful and reflective woman, who is a million miles away from the image that
Kate Grenville has created of Lilian.
The novel is very rich and exuberant in its Australian character. Having read other novels about falls
from graces, such as Edith Wharton’s The House of Mirth, some readers
may be forgiven for thinking that Lilian should display more signs of distress.
However, Lilian is based on the
real life Sydney eccentric Bea Miles, so it is likely that Kate Grenville chose
to be true to the character that she herself had known. Yet Lilian’s very eccentricity, her
happy-go-lucky character and lack of purpose, make it very difficult for
readers to empathise with her, despite the sufferings that she goes through.
Press Reviews: “This
novel is bound for glory: it is original, moving, and brilliantly convincing” –
Vogue
“Here is someone who can really
write” – Peter Carey
“Lilian’s Story… takes
you into another world, which is rare” - Guardian
You can read a resume of the book on our Amazon store below. To find out more about the author, please visit our Kate Grenville page.
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