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Singer family #1
Lilian's Story
Shielded from emotional and physical abuse by layers of fat, Lilian struggles to escape a suffocating existence in the home of her tyrannical Victorian father and her elegant but ineffectual mother. Madness, cruelty and sexuality permeate the family's upper-crust Australian world. Lilian Una Singer starts life at the beginning of the twentieth century as the daughter of a prosperous middle-class Australian family. She ends it as a cheerfully eccentric bag-lady living on the streets, quoting Shakespeare. This book traces the progress of her life's journey, and why she made the choices she did. She's a person large in spirit as well as body, who wants to invent her own story, rather than allow it to be invented for her. Life presents her with many obstacles including the sinister advances of her father, but in spite of this she succeeds. Triumphantly she makes her life her own, savouring every moment with the reminder that 'everything matters'.
288 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1984
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About the author
Kate Grenville
39 books840 followersKate Grenville is one of Australia's best-known authors. She's published eight books of fiction and four books about the writing process. Her best-known works are the international best-seller The Secret River, The Idea of Perfection, The Lieutenant and Lilian's Story (details about all Kate Grenville's books are elsewhere on this site). Her novels have won many awards both in Australia and the UK, several have been made into major feature films, and all have been translated into European and Asian languages.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 122 reviews
July 25, 2017
What an experience! I found this book so moving that I just wanted to reach into it and rescue Lilian, protect her, or at least give her a big hug.
Lilian's childhood lacks love. Her father clearly has mental health issues - OCD, ?Asperger's - and takes pleasure in physically punishing his son, John, and Lilian. Her mother is mentally fragile and eventually disappears into her own, quite silent, world. John may be autistic and his response to this treatment is also to disappear inside himself. Lilian's is to eat and it's not long before she is obese and subjected to horrible bullying by other children.
I would like to be dead, he (John) said once. Or at least short. But I could not wish for anything definite. I carried my bulk around with me like someone else's suitcase full of unknown things, and I did not want to die just yet. To John I could say only, It will not always be like this.
Lilian's behaviour becomes more bizarre as she reaches adulthood. She has opportunities to change her life and live elsewhere, maybe even happily, but she's too traumatised to follow through. Her father has her sent to an institution where she is diagnosed as a psycho-pathological exhibitionist. That explains much of her behaviour but she needed help or care, not locked up in a 'loony bin'.
To say much about the intervening years would be to spoil the reading of this book for others. Suffice to say that towards the end of her life, Lilian meets an old flame and chooses to join his life of homelessness, despite being financially independent.
Our bliss was not conjugal, but chaste, but I did not envy anyone, and told people on the buses, I am a contented woman, and wish for nothing, and they stared at me, and none could say the same for themselves.
Kate Grenville's writing is superb, as always. Her language is simple but so expressive. Lilian's Story really moved me. She was harmless really, except perhaps to herself, but other people found her difficult and were made uncomfortable by her huge body, huge personality and lack of restraint. Perhaps if they had known what a difficult start she'd had in life and had understood how deeply she felt things, they would have made more of an effort. Or not.
An easy 5 stars from me. My only criticism is of whoever designed the cover of the edition I read. Lilian never looked like this. I don't know who this is meant to be but it gives a very wrong impression of the story within.
Lilian's childhood lacks love. Her father clearly has mental health issues - OCD, ?Asperger's - and takes pleasure in physically punishing his son, John, and Lilian. Her mother is mentally fragile and eventually disappears into her own, quite silent, world. John may be autistic and his response to this treatment is also to disappear inside himself. Lilian's is to eat and it's not long before she is obese and subjected to horrible bullying by other children.
I would like to be dead, he (John) said once. Or at least short. But I could not wish for anything definite. I carried my bulk around with me like someone else's suitcase full of unknown things, and I did not want to die just yet. To John I could say only, It will not always be like this.
Lilian's behaviour becomes more bizarre as she reaches adulthood. She has opportunities to change her life and live elsewhere, maybe even happily, but she's too traumatised to follow through. Her father has her sent to an institution where she is diagnosed as a psycho-pathological exhibitionist. That explains much of her behaviour but she needed help or care, not locked up in a 'loony bin'.
To say much about the intervening years would be to spoil the reading of this book for others. Suffice to say that towards the end of her life, Lilian meets an old flame and chooses to join his life of homelessness, despite being financially independent.
Our bliss was not conjugal, but chaste, but I did not envy anyone, and told people on the buses, I am a contented woman, and wish for nothing, and they stared at me, and none could say the same for themselves.
Kate Grenville's writing is superb, as always. Her language is simple but so expressive. Lilian's Story really moved me. She was harmless really, except perhaps to herself, but other people found her difficult and were made uncomfortable by her huge body, huge personality and lack of restraint. Perhaps if they had known what a difficult start she'd had in life and had understood how deeply she felt things, they would have made more of an effort. Or not.
An easy 5 stars from me. My only criticism is of whoever designed the cover of the edition I read. Lilian never looked like this. I don't know who this is meant to be but it gives a very wrong impression of the story within.
May 22, 2021
This is my third Grenville novel, and so far they are all very different, and my respect for her writing is still growing.
This is an original and highly accomplished debut novel which tells the story of an unlikely literary heroine. It tells the story of Lilian, a perennial outsider who moves from being a child of a fairly affluent but demanding father through spells at university and a mental hospital, life as a "bag lady" on the streets and finally a convent. Throughout all of this she retains a strong sense of her own worth, and a fiercely independent spirit, and Grenville largely succeeds in eliciting the reader's sympathy.
This is an original and highly accomplished debut novel which tells the story of an unlikely literary heroine. It tells the story of Lilian, a perennial outsider who moves from being a child of a fairly affluent but demanding father through spells at university and a mental hospital, life as a "bag lady" on the streets and finally a convent. Throughout all of this she retains a strong sense of her own worth, and a fiercely independent spirit, and Grenville largely succeeds in eliciting the reader's sympathy.
March 28, 2011
Lilian’s Story is Kate Grenville’s first novel. Lilian Una Singer was born on the first day of 1900 and we follow her life’s journey through childhood, maturity and into older age. Grenville weaves a tale around a figure whom all of us have encountered and probably tried to avoid (and whom some of us may even encounter daily), the “bag lady”, the mad woman who seems to talk to herself in the street or on the bus/train/tram. She presents a highly plausible history for Lilian which helps explain how an eccentric young woman from a middle-class family becomes a Shakespeare-quoting bag-lady. Along the way, we watch Sydney changing during Federation, two World Wars and a Depression. Lilian tries to make her own decisions in life and ultimately brings a sort of happiness to others by being the type of person they can look at, remark upon and tell their own stories about. Grenville’s descriptions are vivid; her characters, compelling and convincing; her dialogue, credible. Perhaps Lilian’s Story will make the reader look at the eccentric bag-people in another light. An excellent read.
April 22, 2020
I had previously read two Kate Grenville novels - The Secret River, possibly her best known work, and The Idea of Perfection - and thoroughly enjoyed both.
And so it was with keen anticipation that I went back to the beginning to read Lilian's Story, for which Grenville won the 1984 Australian Vogel Award for best unpublished manuscript that year.
In her Preface, Grenville explains that her character, Lilian Singer, is loosely based on a famous Sydney eccentric, Bea Miles, who was a large, old woman who hung around the streets looking quite disreputable, annoying passers-by, quoting Shakespeare, and who was deemed to be quite insane.
Grenville knew something of Bea Miles' background and was fascinated by her story, but rather than write a biography, she created Lilian Singer and embarked on a work of fiction, while incorporating elements of Bea Miles into the story.
Lilian, or Lil as she was mostly known, was always a little awkward and eccentric - a chubby inquisitive child, a fatter, socially ill-at-ease youth who attracted boys and girls of a similar nature (what today we might call nerds), and finally, a very fat, outgoing, annoying but inwardly sad and lonely woman.
Lilian, who was born in 1901, was raised by a reasonably wealthy rural family, but always ran foul of her strange and domineering father, who was frustrated that his daughter would not conform to his expectations. Her mother was more tender, but ultimately weak in the face of her husband's dominant traits.
Lil's father betrayed her tragically twice - her stole her innocence and then, without any discussion, had her committed to an insane asylum, what Lil always referred to as the 'loony bin'.
With help form her aunt, she managed to be released from the 'loony bin' after a lengthy stay and took up residence in a flat in Sydney.
Slowly, her confidence grew, and she started to become well known on the streets, with the local prostitutes and shopkeepers, the police and regular commuters.
Always intelligent, despite her unsociable habits, Lil was fond of Shakespeare, and would offer to recite passages to strangers for a shilling.
She had a habit of getting into random cars and taxis, to the surprise of the occupants, to hold conversations or recite until she was removed, usually by the police, who knew her well and mostly treated her with patience. She would also board trams, refuse to pay the fare, and entertain the commuters.
She eventually met up again with Frank, now a hopeless drunk, whom she had known at university, one of the few men that had shown any interest in Lil and wanted a relationship with her.
She joined Frank in living in a storm water drain in Sydney, until one day he didn't return, his ailing body having finally submitted to the ravages of alcohol abuse.
When Lil also later collapsed on the street, she was taken in to a Catholic institution that cared for homeless women.
Written in short episodic chapters that keep the story moving along without lingering too much on any one element, this early novel clearly demonstrates why Kate Grenville has gone on to become one of Australia's finest writers.
Full of humour, pathos, sadness wry observation, this is a truly enjoyable story.
And so it was with keen anticipation that I went back to the beginning to read Lilian's Story, for which Grenville won the 1984 Australian Vogel Award for best unpublished manuscript that year.
In her Preface, Grenville explains that her character, Lilian Singer, is loosely based on a famous Sydney eccentric, Bea Miles, who was a large, old woman who hung around the streets looking quite disreputable, annoying passers-by, quoting Shakespeare, and who was deemed to be quite insane.
Grenville knew something of Bea Miles' background and was fascinated by her story, but rather than write a biography, she created Lilian Singer and embarked on a work of fiction, while incorporating elements of Bea Miles into the story.
Lilian, or Lil as she was mostly known, was always a little awkward and eccentric - a chubby inquisitive child, a fatter, socially ill-at-ease youth who attracted boys and girls of a similar nature (what today we might call nerds), and finally, a very fat, outgoing, annoying but inwardly sad and lonely woman.
Lilian, who was born in 1901, was raised by a reasonably wealthy rural family, but always ran foul of her strange and domineering father, who was frustrated that his daughter would not conform to his expectations. Her mother was more tender, but ultimately weak in the face of her husband's dominant traits.
Lil's father betrayed her tragically twice - her stole her innocence and then, without any discussion, had her committed to an insane asylum, what Lil always referred to as the 'loony bin'.
With help form her aunt, she managed to be released from the 'loony bin' after a lengthy stay and took up residence in a flat in Sydney.
Slowly, her confidence grew, and she started to become well known on the streets, with the local prostitutes and shopkeepers, the police and regular commuters.
Always intelligent, despite her unsociable habits, Lil was fond of Shakespeare, and would offer to recite passages to strangers for a shilling.
She had a habit of getting into random cars and taxis, to the surprise of the occupants, to hold conversations or recite until she was removed, usually by the police, who knew her well and mostly treated her with patience. She would also board trams, refuse to pay the fare, and entertain the commuters.
She eventually met up again with Frank, now a hopeless drunk, whom she had known at university, one of the few men that had shown any interest in Lil and wanted a relationship with her.
She joined Frank in living in a storm water drain in Sydney, until one day he didn't return, his ailing body having finally submitted to the ravages of alcohol abuse.
When Lil also later collapsed on the street, she was taken in to a Catholic institution that cared for homeless women.
Written in short episodic chapters that keep the story moving along without lingering too much on any one element, this early novel clearly demonstrates why Kate Grenville has gone on to become one of Australia's finest writers.
Full of humour, pathos, sadness wry observation, this is a truly enjoyable story.
September 3, 2015
A brilliant and interesting first novel by Kate Grenville. She took as her starting off point a real woman who was famous (or notorious) in Sydney, and imagined what might have happened in her life to bring her to the point of living on the streets, giving Shakespeare recitations and generally causing discomfort among the respectable citizens of Sydney. I don't ever recall seeing Bea Miles, but growing up, I certainly knew her name and a little of what she did.
It's a sad book in looking at the kind of treatment that may have brought the real person to this state. While I would hope she would be treated a little more kindly these days, I fear she would not. We still find it very hard to deal with people who are "different".
It's a sad book in looking at the kind of treatment that may have brought the real person to this state. While I would hope she would be treated a little more kindly these days, I fear she would not. We still find it very hard to deal with people who are "different".
October 5, 2012
I thought I was going to still be reading this book when I was an old bag lady myself. I love Kate Grenville's writing but beautiful, original prose is not enough to keep a reader engaged. This is seriously lacking in plot. Especially as I knew from the blurb that Lillian becomes a lady who lives rough and recites Shakespeare. There was no hook to keep me reading. I felt bad because at times I was skimming through paragraphs. However, it was extraordinarily good in parts. Don't want to include any spoilers here but the relationship with her father is very well drawn and I thought her depiction of that very dysfunctional relationship and where it eventually goes was brilliant. Except that she leaves home quite a long way before the end of the book and then nothing else is done quite so well. This is her early work, and shows how much promise she has as a writer, but it is crying out for a plot.
April 3, 2024
Original Review:
A haunting tale of Lilian growing up in a middle class home in the early 1900s then in her early 20s she is raped by her father. As a young girl Lilian is fat but also independent and a desire to be something other than a stay at home wife. With her rape, her mental state changes and she becomes a broken woman.
The writing then becomes as good as it gets as Lilian relates her experiences in the "loony bin", on the streets and as she ages.
Added after second reading:
Perfection in writing. How the author gets into Lilian's head is inspiring. Lilian knows she is a bit crazy but she is so proud of who she is and how she lives. I did wonder by the end whether Lilian was just normal and it is the rest of us who had crazy to live like we do.
A haunting tale of Lilian growing up in a middle class home in the early 1900s then in her early 20s she is raped by her father. As a young girl Lilian is fat but also independent and a desire to be something other than a stay at home wife. With her rape, her mental state changes and she becomes a broken woman.
The writing then becomes as good as it gets as Lilian relates her experiences in the "loony bin", on the streets and as she ages.
Added after second reading:
Perfection in writing. How the author gets into Lilian's head is inspiring. Lilian knows she is a bit crazy but she is so proud of who she is and how she lives. I did wonder by the end whether Lilian was just normal and it is the rest of us who had crazy to live like we do.
October 22, 2012
I chose this book because my local library was doing a challenge where readers read a book from each continent - this was one of the Australian books they recommended. It's a novel about a character called Lilian, who is born into a middle class family and then as an adult chooses to be a bag lady who quotes Shakespeare to people. It chronicles her life and the choices she makes and why.
I enjoyed it a lot. Interestingly, a lot of the reviewers I've read say they don't like the character of Lilian, but I liked her. Not sure she's someone I'd want to be friends with, because she's very 'in your face', but I liked her as a character and found her interesting. The whole concept of opting out of cultural conventions and values, and choosing a lifestyle that is not socially accepted is one that I find fascinating and I feel I can understand and relate to.
One thing that intrigued me as I read the novel was the concept of 'madness' - Lilian and her family were supposedly mentally ill, and I found myself wondering whether what was being described really was mental illness, or maybe some level of autism instead. Particularly her brother and father, with their collections of facts, and their tendency to turn inwards, but also Lilian, in a very different way, with her inability to fit in socially.
Another thing that intrigued me was Lilian's weight - she deliberately lets herself get fatter and fatter, as a form of self-protection. Everything she does seems to be very deliberate - she is determined to do and be what she wants regardless of convention, and yet she also really seems to want to be accepted by society and gets genuinely upset when she is excluded. So of course these two desires clash - ironically until she becomes a bag lady. Then she realises that she has an impact on people's lives - that they remember talking to her, and it's a story they can tell to their families.
So in order to be both fully herself and also accepted as part of her society, she has to embrace a role which is not officially accepted by society. It's an odd paradox, but makes sense.
I enjoyed it a lot. Interestingly, a lot of the reviewers I've read say they don't like the character of Lilian, but I liked her. Not sure she's someone I'd want to be friends with, because she's very 'in your face', but I liked her as a character and found her interesting. The whole concept of opting out of cultural conventions and values, and choosing a lifestyle that is not socially accepted is one that I find fascinating and I feel I can understand and relate to.
One thing that intrigued me as I read the novel was the concept of 'madness' - Lilian and her family were supposedly mentally ill, and I found myself wondering whether what was being described really was mental illness, or maybe some level of autism instead. Particularly her brother and father, with their collections of facts, and their tendency to turn inwards, but also Lilian, in a very different way, with her inability to fit in socially.
Another thing that intrigued me was Lilian's weight - she deliberately lets herself get fatter and fatter, as a form of self-protection. Everything she does seems to be very deliberate - she is determined to do and be what she wants regardless of convention, and yet she also really seems to want to be accepted by society and gets genuinely upset when she is excluded. So of course these two desires clash - ironically until she becomes a bag lady. Then she realises that she has an impact on people's lives - that they remember talking to her, and it's a story they can tell to their families.
So in order to be both fully herself and also accepted as part of her society, she has to embrace a role which is not officially accepted by society. It's an odd paradox, but makes sense.
May 22, 2017
You know the Emperor of San Francisco and Protector of Mexico (the one from Christopher Moore's fiction)? Lillian's Story is about the female equivalent of that guy.
Lil Singer (based on a real person) is an eccentric hobo who shocks the residents of her city for her own amusement and (she believes) for their betterment. She loves being talked about. She loves doing crazy things so that people will tell stories about her. People do, and, eventually, Lil becomes famous.
This story would have been great for that alone, but most of Lilian's Story is about how Lil becomes that eccentric homeless person. Born in 1900, Lil is an extremely intelligent female coming of age in a world that doesn't much care about intelligent women. As a woman of that time, there are few areas in which Lil is allowed to excel. After reviewing her options , Lil decides to become a bag lady who recites Shakespeare for money and causes scenes for the express purpose of being bodily removed by hot police officers. She excels at hoboism and creates a thoroughly awesome life for herself.
I love this book.
Lil Singer (based on a real person) is an eccentric hobo who shocks the residents of her city for her own amusement and (she believes) for their betterment. She loves being talked about. She loves doing crazy things so that people will tell stories about her. People do, and, eventually, Lil becomes famous.
This story would have been great for that alone, but most of Lilian's Story is about how Lil becomes that eccentric homeless person. Born in 1900, Lil is an extremely intelligent female coming of age in a world that doesn't much care about intelligent women. As a woman of that time, there are few areas in which Lil is allowed to excel. After reviewing her options , Lil decides to become a bag lady who recites Shakespeare for money and causes scenes for the express purpose of being bodily removed by hot police officers. She excels at hoboism and creates a thoroughly awesome life for herself.
I love this book.
October 31, 2013
I am going to give this four stars, because it was really wonderfully written, the characters were beautifully complex, and at times painfully real.
I won't lie, I want to give this less stars simply because it was so hard to read at times. I found myself asking, "WHY WOULD HE DO THAT?" several times, even after the "that" was well past. There were definitely moments of outrage. But this is life, reality. There is outrage. There are shitty things that happen and then life goes on
or it doesn't...
but it did for Lil, and it is amazing how she took her pain and suffering and turned it into something else. How she took the pieces of her fragmented self and began the process of re-membering. How she asserted herself through giving people pieces of her story, creating history.
I won't lie, I want to give this less stars simply because it was so hard to read at times. I found myself asking, "WHY WOULD HE DO THAT?" several times, even after the "that" was well past. There were definitely moments of outrage. But this is life, reality. There is outrage. There are shitty things that happen and then life goes on
or it doesn't...
but it did for Lil, and it is amazing how she took her pain and suffering and turned it into something else. How she took the pieces of her fragmented self and began the process of re-membering. How she asserted herself through giving people pieces of her story, creating history.
August 2, 2016
I loved this book! It is breathtakingly well-written and, in my opinion, one of the greatest Australian novels ever written.
May 22, 2024
At first I struggled with the stop start short chapters & was confused with so many chapters & scenes.
As I continued to read I appreciated the short chapters as I have little time to read presently.
The writing was amazing. The characters described in such detail that I got to know them so well & what interesting characters they were.
I was also interested to watch Sydney change through Federation, 2 World Wars & The Depression. The city streets & land marks were very familiar to me.
I didn’t like the cover of the book. The face illustrated was not the face of Lilian I saw as I read the book.
3 stars.
As I continued to read I appreciated the short chapters as I have little time to read presently.
The writing was amazing. The characters described in such detail that I got to know them so well & what interesting characters they were.
I was also interested to watch Sydney change through Federation, 2 World Wars & The Depression. The city streets & land marks were very familiar to me.
I didn’t like the cover of the book. The face illustrated was not the face of Lilian I saw as I read the book.
3 stars.
April 18, 2021
A deeply unsettling and unflinching account of human cruelty and the casual, sustained violence society unleashes on those in the fringes who don't live up to its standards. The weight of conventional expectations and the desperation to be liked is a perpetual boot on the neck of the persecuted who weather unspeakable traumas just to assert their individuality and be themselves. It's a very gray novel, and the effect of power - however minor - on people's minds is stunningly captured. Reading Lilian's Story, it is almost impossible not to mourn the fates of countless men and women who were born before their times, denied dignity and a comfortable life because they were born a century or two earlier. Lookism, patriarchy and misogyny join forces to make our protagonist's life miserable. She is intelligent, strong and carves out her own identity in a world that does nothing but despise her (Her childhood chapters reminded me of Tartt's Little Friend). Taking control of her own destiny, she defies conventional expectations and cares nothing about what she "ought" to be. Kudos to Grenville for tackling this subject that most writers would shy away from. The no-nonsense prose is very engaging, and the story flows uninterrupted from the POV of the protagonist, tracing her entire life with verve and brutal honesty. I'd read somewhere that The Secret River was Grenville's only good book and this novel proved it wrong.
About the cover image - Bland design apart, did the designer even read this novel? How did the publishers approve it? This image stands for pretty much everything the novel is against.
Just found that this novel is the first part of a loose trilogy : https://kategrenville.com.au/books/li...
I'm really interested in the book narrated from her father's perspective.
About the cover image - Bland design apart, did the designer even read this novel? How did the publishers approve it? This image stands for pretty much everything the novel is against.
Just found that this novel is the first part of a loose trilogy : https://kategrenville.com.au/books/li...
I'm really interested in the book narrated from her father's perspective.
September 18, 2013
Minor spoilers ahead
This novel started in what I thought was one direction and ended up in quite another. Before you read this book consider the social rules of society? What is acceptable? What behavior is seen as weird? What would you do if you could do what you wanted instead of what you were expected to?
"Lilian's Story" follows a young upper class woman in Australia named Lilian. She's chubby and a little strange, though so is her family. As she attempts to navigate the social world, she finds that she does not and can not fit in, though she desperately wants to. Time passes and she grows up. She becomes odder and more self-assured. She loves and loses love. Then, she is committed to an asylum for being too strange and her world changes.
Everything is told from Lilian's point of view. She is odd, but to us she makes sense. Why should she behave by the rest of society's rules? Why not her own? Why can't she find or insist on love on her own terms?
This novel certainly made me think. I admired Lilian's character, though I know it is a biased narration. That is the power of this novel. It is biased and you know you are reading in the end about a homeless bag lady and yet I was unable to find flaw in her reasoning. Her life made sense. She was happy.
This novel started in what I thought was one direction and ended up in quite another. Before you read this book consider the social rules of society? What is acceptable? What behavior is seen as weird? What would you do if you could do what you wanted instead of what you were expected to?
"Lilian's Story" follows a young upper class woman in Australia named Lilian. She's chubby and a little strange, though so is her family. As she attempts to navigate the social world, she finds that she does not and can not fit in, though she desperately wants to. Time passes and she grows up. She becomes odder and more self-assured. She loves and loses love. Then, she is committed to an asylum for being too strange and her world changes.
Everything is told from Lilian's point of view. She is odd, but to us she makes sense. Why should she behave by the rest of society's rules? Why not her own? Why can't she find or insist on love on her own terms?
This novel certainly made me think. I admired Lilian's character, though I know it is a biased narration. That is the power of this novel. It is biased and you know you are reading in the end about a homeless bag lady and yet I was unable to find flaw in her reasoning. Her life made sense. She was happy.
March 29, 2008
I discovered Grenville through her 2006 Booker nomination. I recall enjoying that book more than I expected to. And being impressed how she works with a very traditional story format but makes it feel contemporary.
This is one of her earlier books, and I thought in many ways it was far stronger than The Secret River. Its form was again quite traditional, a linear passage through the life of one extraordinary woman.
But it was the character depiction that won me over. It's rare for me to encounter someone so vivid. Spending a few days with this book makes me feel like I have met Lil Singer, as colourful and crazy as that is.
I understand that Grenville has written a complimentary novel to this one, focusing on Lil's father - I look forward to reading that too. I can see why she would wish to work further once she has created such an engaging family.
This is one of her earlier books, and I thought in many ways it was far stronger than The Secret River. Its form was again quite traditional, a linear passage through the life of one extraordinary woman.
But it was the character depiction that won me over. It's rare for me to encounter someone so vivid. Spending a few days with this book makes me feel like I have met Lil Singer, as colourful and crazy as that is.
I understand that Grenville has written a complimentary novel to this one, focusing on Lil's father - I look forward to reading that too. I can see why she would wish to work further once she has created such an engaging family.
January 18, 2016
Will this story ever end? I am really struggling to get through this book. Started on 16th and still going and feel like it will be forever. Keep going to other books in between which I devour then in refusal to give up come back to this. This is only the second Kate Grenville book I've read and it will be the last. I really don't like her writing style. At least with The Secret River there was a plot and the story felt like it was going somewhere but this book is just painful. Back to it to hopefully get it read sooner rather than later.........
So glad that is over! I never warmed to Lilian or any characters in this book at all.
So glad that is over! I never warmed to Lilian or any characters in this book at all.
October 28, 2012
Because I LOVED this author's "The Secret River" and "The Idea of Perfection", I picked this up at B&N's used book section. It is very hard to believe the same person wrote this book! It is a series of little short stories (about the same people) that were abrupt and jarring to read. The beautiful prose was not present and I ended up skimming through the last third of the book just to get it over with.
She has greatly matured into a magnificent writer in her later books.
She has greatly matured into a magnificent writer in her later books.
December 10, 2020
The book was really tough to read. Tough in the sense that Lilian Singer seems to be an unutterably sad creature and yet, she had the courage to pick her own path in life and stuck to it, consequences be damned. Despite some heartbreaks, however, the ending was remarkably hopeful and full of life. That alone pushed my rating up to 3.
April 26, 2025
Kate Grenville writes with a deep compassion for her main characters, people who have faced very significant challenges and at the end of their lives are sleeping rough. Lillian herself is bullied at school, self conscious of her excess weight and desperate to have a close friend. She is intelligent and an avid reader, but suffers a horribly abusive relationship with her father. In her early adult years disinhibited behaviours result in her involuntary admission to a psychiatric facility and her future is profoundly altered. Thankfully, she was not subjected to ECT or other traumatic therapies. Her psychiatric diagnosis is not clearly stated. On discharge she is taken in and looked after by an aunt and relishes the freedom. The last chapters of her living on the street with her friend Frank are very moving and their support and care for each other is beautifully described.
February 2, 2019
This book took me a bit to get into but by the end I found myself really emotionally involved with this character.
Lilian is different to other girls of her age. She is a tomboy. She is abused at home by her father and she is bullied at school. In response she retreats into eating and gains a lot of weight. This compounds her problems.
I thought the story of a girl who didn't quite fit in was a good one. I also found what happened to those people who didn't conform interesting. At the start I didn't know what was going on so if you find yourself in that situation my advice is to persevere. It does start to come together.
Lilian is different to other girls of her age. She is a tomboy. She is abused at home by her father and she is bullied at school. In response she retreats into eating and gains a lot of weight. This compounds her problems.
I thought the story of a girl who didn't quite fit in was a good one. I also found what happened to those people who didn't conform interesting. At the start I didn't know what was going on so if you find yourself in that situation my advice is to persevere. It does start to come together.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 2, 2021
I am becoming quite enamoured with Kate Grenville's writing. I read the prequel to this book, Dark Places. In my review on that book I questioned with Albion Singer (Lillian's father) was a vile man or simply the product of his times. Having read this book, I am convinced he is the former. But with the knowledge of what happens in his later life; I think he was adequately punished.
But its this book I need to review. I really liked the vignettes of Lil's life. It was an interesting way of getting a sense of her history without resorting to "and then she did this". The author has let the reader fill in the 'in between bits' with their own imagination.
The book is divided into three parts - A Girl, A Young Lady, and A Woman. I found "A Woman" heart breaking. For such a gregarious creature, particularly in later life, there was such a sense of loneliness. A women (and girl) who just wanted to be loved, but there were also snippets of great joy and the potential for great joy, if she only had the chance.
But its this book I need to review. I really liked the vignettes of Lil's life. It was an interesting way of getting a sense of her history without resorting to "and then she did this". The author has let the reader fill in the 'in between bits' with their own imagination.
The book is divided into three parts - A Girl, A Young Lady, and A Woman. I found "A Woman" heart breaking. For such a gregarious creature, particularly in later life, there was such a sense of loneliness. A women (and girl) who just wanted to be loved, but there were also snippets of great joy and the potential for great joy, if she only had the chance.
December 4, 2018
Well written but a bit depressing and lacked the coherent feel of a complete novel.
March 17, 2019
3.5 ⭐️’s
November 16, 2022
I love Kate Grenville as a novelist, and have read many of her wonderful works, so I guess my expectations were very high. This novel is beautifully written as I would be expect, but the central character of Lilian just didn't resonate with me. I felt very sorry for her as she grew up in a totally dysfunctional family - dictatorial cruel father, withdrawn cold mother, distant autistic brother. She learnt to protect herself through covering herself with layers of fat and being eccentric. I wasn't sure exactly what was Lilian's motivation for some of her strange behaviours, and actually found her quite unlikeable in many instances. I'm assuming she had some type of mental illness that nobody bothered to diagnose, but too many times I found myself thinking- Why would she do that? Or say that? Not really my cup of tea (or cream cake).
July 12, 2020
"Lilian, less vigour if you please"
The story of a woman who didn't fit into the normal grooves of life, despite or because of the efforts to make her fit. She invented her own life. This isan exploration of character as a decision on how to live with what you have around you.
Inspired by Bea Miles a notorious Sydney figure, described by Wikipedia as an Australian eccentric and bohemian rebel (a good read in itself).
"Yes, I am Lil Singer, I said, and will give you a short recitation"
The book explores the interactions or reactions that are revealed in the wake of Lilian. A look at the phenomena of oddness as a relationship with the world around you. Feels remarkably (20th century) Australian.
"Others failed to show the right attitude, and revealed themselves without knowing that they did so. The man in the back seat of another afternoon taxi was one of those who say nothing rather than say anything foolish. He stared, of course, at the sweating woman with all the chins who had jumped in at the lights, but could think of nothing to say that might not have made him look foolish, and sat instead with a foolish look of expectancy on his face, in bogus calm. A man of character would have spoken to me, but this man, in his neat jacket and short fur of hair, was no man of character."
The story of a woman who didn't fit into the normal grooves of life, despite or because of the efforts to make her fit. She invented her own life. This isan exploration of character as a decision on how to live with what you have around you.
Inspired by Bea Miles a notorious Sydney figure, described by Wikipedia as an Australian eccentric and bohemian rebel (a good read in itself).
"Yes, I am Lil Singer, I said, and will give you a short recitation"
The book explores the interactions or reactions that are revealed in the wake of Lilian. A look at the phenomena of oddness as a relationship with the world around you. Feels remarkably (20th century) Australian.
"Others failed to show the right attitude, and revealed themselves without knowing that they did so. The man in the back seat of another afternoon taxi was one of those who say nothing rather than say anything foolish. He stared, of course, at the sweating woman with all the chins who had jumped in at the lights, but could think of nothing to say that might not have made him look foolish, and sat instead with a foolish look of expectancy on his face, in bogus calm. A man of character would have spoken to me, but this man, in his neat jacket and short fur of hair, was no man of character."
May 2, 2011
I had one big problem with this book and that was that I didn't like Lilian. The older she got, the more I disliked her. Maybe she was really crazy but it seemed to me that she was to aware of being crazy and could stop if she wanted to. She just seemed like a big source of annoyance to the locals. One thing that rang true though was when she mentioned that the people she stopped and annoyed would go home and mention seeing her. This reminded me of someone we have local who's a bit odd. The breaded lady of Guildford. People will always bring her up in conversation if they see her, just like people would have done with Lil. And her whole life seemed pointless. She ended up living with Frank on the streets anyways, she should have just married him when she was younger and her life might have been very different
January 27, 2021
This is a deeply moving fictionalised account based on one of Sydney's eccentric characters, Bea Miles. Written in the first person, Lilian is a damaged individual, obese, unloved and in a world of her own. The book is divided into three sections: A Girl, A Young Lady and A Woman. The short chapters help with the pace of the story as we are drawn into the inner world of Lilian. This is a thoughtful novel and both the description and the imagery is pure genius from one of Australia's greatest contemporary novelists. Don't expect to be uplifted by Lilian's story but there is a certain optimism in the final chapters. We have a lot still to learn about mental health and Lilian's story poses some interesting questions for the thoughtful reader?
January 14, 2013
I am ready for whatever comes next.
Last line from Lilian’s Story. I was looking forward to reading this after finishing Grenville’s great Australia trilogy. It was written with Grenville’s usual lovely writing voice. However, Lilian’s Story was a disappointing drag, due to Lilian herself. I didn’t like her to begin with and my feelings didn’t change at the end. Yes, she’s led a cruel and miserable life but she doesn’t help herself by aggravating everyone around her to make her situation worse. I just didn’t care about her, or her dreary life, which made it impossible for this dull read to hold my interest.
Last line from Lilian’s Story. I was looking forward to reading this after finishing Grenville’s great Australia trilogy. It was written with Grenville’s usual lovely writing voice. However, Lilian’s Story was a disappointing drag, due to Lilian herself. I didn’t like her to begin with and my feelings didn’t change at the end. Yes, she’s led a cruel and miserable life but she doesn’t help herself by aggravating everyone around her to make her situation worse. I just didn’t care about her, or her dreary life, which made it impossible for this dull read to hold my interest.
December 23, 2017
It is rare for me not to finish a book. However, I could not bear to read any more than 18% of this one. Kate Grenville is a great writer, but this one is too, too depressing. There was not one character who made me smile. It is written as a series of short,some less than a page, vignettes, each making me feel worse than the one before. There are just too many books on my shelves waiting for me to read them for me to spend any more time with this one, hoping for it to get better.
October 18, 2017
I read for enjoyment, escapism, to challenge my mind or to learn something. Sadly, this book was just depressing. I plodded on hoping it would get better in some way, and eventually skipped forward a couple of times throughout the book, and to the end. It did not get better, it just became more and more depressing, so I have decided not to keep plodding on. Far too depressing.
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