The Illustrator

by Jill Barclay

All her life, Eileen has loved to draw and desired to be a commercial artist. In the 1920s, Eileen's talents are well recognised in the Goulburn Valley where she is a farmer's daughter, but this is a place and time when women can only be wives, mothers and homemakers. A woman choosing a career over her husband and baby is unheard of.
' The Illustrator is based on Jill Barclay's real grandmother (set in rural Victoria then on to Melbourne, Sydney and Auckland), a woman who just disappears. The novel traces the unpredictable life journey of a young woman who resists conventional expectations. Written with an acute eye for the period and a sympathy for the distressing choices a woman might be forced to make The Illustrator offers an alternative history for being female and not ordinary in the first half of last century.' Helen Elliott

298 pages, Paperback

Published July 7, 2018

Reviews

[Ruth Forbes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good depiction of Australian attitudes in that time period (and later!!)

[Katherine Seppings · Rating 5 out of 5]

A compelling and important story about the difficult decisions some women have to make between having a family and a career. There are many powerful images and ideas in this story, from Katunga, ‘flat as a billiard table’ to a talented young woman boarding a train and leaving no trace. Riveting read.