The Push is a compelling and dramatic coming-of-age story set in 1950s Sydney. Erica is 18 and working in an office when she meets members of The Push, a group of radical libertarians who challenge her ideas about society, the expectations of women and relationships.
In Julia Lawrinson's words, 'The Push was a group of libertarian thinkers who hung around the pubs (and racecourses) of Sydney from the 1950s until the 1970s. The people were interesting to me because they believed that "freedom in love is the condition of other freedoms" and "the desire for security and sufficiency is the very mark of the servile mentality" at a time when Australian society was extremely conservative, and the idea of striving for some kind of freedom was viewed with suspicion by the mainstream.'
Julia wanted to see what would happen if she put two restless young women under The Push's tantalising influence. She says, 'that's really the story of the novel.'
