Marian (1859) by "Maud Jeanne Franc" was the first novel by a woman to be published in South Australia. It evokes life on a farm near Mount Barker in the early days of the Colony, and provides an insight into the social conditions of the time and the concerns and preoccupations of pioneer women. Its author, Matilda Evans, arrived in South Australia in 1852. Her life was arduous and difficult, but she battled on to become a successful writer, schoolteacher and parent. She published fourteen novels, all set in Adelaide or the surrounding countryside. Her books were read widely in Australia and overseas. Each went to several editions, and Marian was reprinted seventeen times in London. Our Own Matilda celebrates the life of a woman who was not only one of our first successful novelists, but someone deeply concerned with the lives of those around her.