A Country Life is a grimly ironic title. The images it conjures—of a genteel provincial lifestyle; quiet strolls in leafy gardens; a healthy, nature filled existence—are completely shattered within the pages of this book.
It is a heart-wrenching, often brutal account of one woman’s struggle through a nightmarish childhood and adolescence. The reader is intimately drawn into a series of shocking and degrading experiences that truly represent the antithesis of the kind of life most of us would want for our children.
But through it all the author reveals to us her undying sense of hope and enduring sense of humour. Though at times bleak and seemingly hopeless, reminding us of the cruelties some people are capable of against even those they are supposed to love the most, it is ultimately a story of triumph, a portrait of the resilience of the human spirit. Those who have shared similar experiences will find hope and comfort in Eden’s story. The rest of us can read it as a cautionary tale, providing us with a glimpse into the brutality that can take place behind the walls of otherwise innocuous-looking suburban houses.
Read more about the author “Rondah Dam”
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