Nadia Wheatley’s The house that was Eureka! is a tale that darts between the turbulent social environment of the 1930’s Great Depression and the high unemployment of Australia in the early 1980’s. Through the residents of a single street in inner Sydney, Wheatley’s meticulously researched book tells a story of struggle and resistance from both eras.

Evie and Noel are two teenagers living next-door to one another in 1980’s Newtown, dissatisfied with their respective lives of school and unemployment, and feeling helpless against the circumstances that define them. Their teenage struggles unfold as we're introduced to the anti-eviction rioters of the 1930’s, and the families that occupied their houses decades earlier. As the tales build a shared history of conflicts and contests for independence and dignity emerges.
Wheatley’s urgent tone and sympathetic characterisation will engross readers in a story equally about social justice and relationships.

Blue Collar Yarns