The graduate by Rebecca Lim

Fei Fei Chou is the diversity hire, the token Asian in the graduate intake to a conservative, highly prestigious, law firm. Little do they know, her real name is Evelyn and this is exactly the role she has been working towards for years. Beneath her quiet, unassuming and heavily made-up appearance, there is fiercely determined woman intent on revenge for a horrendous crime, which saw her, as a child, become the victim of the Eastern Suburbs Paedo (ESP). She was one of three young girls targeted by the still unidentified paedophile; only two of whom survived, Evelyn and Hailey. Hailey retains the only clue from her imprisonment, the memory of a box labelled ‘Paukeaho’. Loosely based on the Mr Cruel crimes in Melbourne in the 1980s, Rebecca Lim’s mystery thriller imagines the determination of a victim, now a graduate lawyer, who is focussed on discovering any trail to Paukeaho, to make the monster pay.

Rebecca Lim draws on her experience as a lawyer and exposes the challenges for a shy young Asian Australian graduate trying to take her place in a highly competitive, even toxic legal environment. But she shows that the outsider can succeed; the graduate is a seasoned survivor and proves herself capable and resilient, brave enough to venture into danger and get what she wants.

Lim’s crime novel is set in urban Australia, rather than the popular outback noir, and her investigator is a scarred Asian girl. Along the trail Lim exposes the crimes of Australian colonialism, the unprincipled mining of Pacific nations such as Nauru and Christmas Island, the exploitation of coolie labour, and the long-standing abuse of women and children. It is a unique blend of enthralling thriller and historical research, an interesting new brand of crime fiction.

The graduate is a new genre in Lim’s repertoire. Best known for the highly awarded young adult novel Tiger daughter (2021) and Two sparrowhawks in a lonely sky (2023), she is also the author of the Children of the Dragon fantasy books  and a picture book Our family dragon (2023).  The graduate is her first foray into adult fiction, but her sensitive non-graphic handling of the themes of rape and sexual abuse means that YA readers of crime thrillers may also appreciate this novel.

Themes: Paedophilia, Revenge, Law, Crime.

Helen Eddy