Lillipilly Hill is a delightful coming-of-age story that is all at once sweet and adventurous, sensitive and exciting. Lillipilly Hill is the story of Harriet Wilmot and her family, who have come to live in an inherited house in the New South Wales town of Barley Creek at the end of the nineteenth century. Harriet is in awe of Australia, despite the heat and unconventional schooling, and much prefers it to dreary old London. Not all of the Wilmots agree however and Harriet breaks rules and expectations in her efforts to convince her family to stay in this new and exciting land. Following an altercation with another boy Harriet's brother Aidan even attempts to walk, in the middle of the night, to the harbour. Battling the kind of darkness you only get in the country and impenetrable swampland Aidan comes across a mysterious young man with a dog who will change his perspective on Australia and even life itself. Eleanor Spence (1928-2008) was a children's librarian and writer. Two of her titles The Green Laurel (1964) and The October Child (1967) won Children's Book Council of Australia Book of the Year awards. She became a Member of the Order of Australia in 2006. Eleanor Spence wrote twenty-one books for children, predominantly stories of Australian family life that focused on themes of alienation, growing up and social pressure. The recipient of both critical praise and popular success, she remains an iconic figure in Australian children's literature. textclassics.com.au