A Girl's Life in English Interwar Suburia: Evadne Price's Just Jane

Abstract

Just Jane, the first of a series of books for young female readers written by the Australian- English writer Evadne Price, was published in 1928. The young heroine starring in the book and the members of her family represent the typical middle-class family living in an English suburban area, a type of neighbourhood which underwent an unprecedented growth during the 1920s. This article analyses Price’s text in the light of the new lifestyle fostered in English interwar suburbia, as it illustrates how, together with the building of new houses and neighbourhoods, new values concerning family relations, gender roles, social networking and leisure activities were generated and promoted.