Abstract
Central to the social processes and economic development of Australia and many other western countries during the 1950s and early 1960s was the realisation of the 'suburban dream'. It was around this myth that the most important phenomena of the time developed: namely, the dramatic expansion of the manufacturing industry and the complementary development of a new model of the family built upon the role of women as perfect housewives, who had to manage their homes and take care of their husbands and children. Considering the perspective of Italian women in Australia helps to uncover the class, gender and ethnic exploitation that sustained the 'suburban dream'. In this article, letters written by two Italian migrant women in the late 1950s and early 1960s are considered. The two women describe their dramatic experiences of motherhood and settlement in Australia, with a particular emphasis on the terrible accommodation in which they were living. Far from being safe shelters, these homes came to represent the ultimate traps of a hostile social and natural environment. The suburban dream was ideologically superimposed onto a harsh reality of exploitation, 'placelessness' and alienation.