Hell's Only Half Full tells the colourful story of Victorian pioneer–settler Lucy Little (Nan) through the lives of three generations of her family. It is essentially a gritty yet engaging story of strong, resourceful women (and fairly ineffectual men) dealing with abject poverty in an unforgiving environment. It is a story peppered with humour — beginning with the spectacle of a horse being given an enema — and spiced with drama, pathos, even fratricide.

Hell's Only Half Full is the winner of category C (book) of the 2010 Museums Australia Multimedia and Publication Design Awards. The book was designed by Sarah Evans.