The Girls From Fitzroy

Melbourne on Victory in the Pacific Day and the streets are thronging with people jubilant that the war is over. Maggie Johnson is one of the crowd and as she wanders through the city streets she is approached by a young woman, Lil Kelly, who is handing out peace tokens that her mother has made. Maggie and Lil team up and by the time they leave to go home the beginnings of a friendship have formed.

Maggie and Lil both live in Fitzroy but Fitzroy in the 1940s is a divided suburb. Maggie lives with her parents in an upper class area while Lil lives with her mother and sister in the midst of the slums in southern Fitzroy. Initially the girls agree to meet once a week in the public gardens but then Maggie is determined to meet Lil's family. Maggie helps Lil when she can though she has to be careful that her parents do not learn of this friendship. Then life changes dramatically for both Maggie and Lil and they work together to try and improve their living conditions and to have the opportunity to live independent lives.

The Girls from Fitzroy by Jennie Jones is story of friendship, relationships, poverty, bereavement,and hope. 

This work of fiction is set at the end of the Second World War and deals with families hoping that sons return home safely, rationing and the role of women in a changing society. The book also explores the lives of those living in the slums and touches on plans for proposed slum clearances and the effects of this on those living in slum communities.

Melbourne's hidden slum history - University of Melbourne

Photos of 1930s slums in Collingwood, Fitzroy and Carlton