Good books about Australian history

Peter Hancock · Post by **Peter Hancock** » Mon September 17th, 2012, 2:38 am

Anyone know of any good recent Australian historical novels?

annis · Post by **annis** » Mon September 17th, 2012, 7:16 pm

It might depend what style of historical novel you're after, Peter - literary, adventure, mystery, romance etc.

The Australian Online bookshop has a good listing of historical fiction by Australian authors, though these novels are not necessarily set around Australian history.
http://www.bookworm.com.au/Books/Austra ... ction.aspx

Margaret Donsbach's Historical Novels Info website might be a good starting point
http://www.historicalnovels.info/Australasia.html#Au

Amanda · Post by **Amanda** » Tue September 18th, 2012, 11:24 am

Also depends on what sort of time period you're looking for too.

I loved The Secret River by KAte Grenville and Morgan's Run by Colleen McCullough, and they are both convict/settler based stories.
For the Term of His Natural Life by Marcus C Clarke is a classic about convicts, and includes (as a small part) the tale of a escapee convict who turned cannibal. It mostly about the way that people viewed the convicts - once a convict, always a convict.

The Harp in the South by Ruth Park is also considered an Australian classic, and depicts the way of life in Sydney in the 1940s. its been many many years since i read that.

Mello · Post by **Mello** » Wed September 19th, 2012, 7:43 am

I second Kate Grenvilles The Secret River. I would also say Bryce Courtenays Australian trilogy, although Ive only read the first, The Potato Factory.

By far, my favourite Australian novel is Peter Carey's True History of the Kelly Gang.

Vanessa · Post by **Vanessa** » Wed September 19th, 2012, 9:12 am

I've read Cloudstreet by Tim Winton which is set before, during and after WWII. I really enjoyed it. I had to do a bit of googling so that the storyline became clear to me, as it does have a supernatural element relating to the 'stolen generation' which I knew nothing about.

Carla · Post by **Carla** » Wed September 19th, 2012, 5:05 pm

There's Terra Nullius, by TD McKinnon (http://tdmckinnon.com/terra-nullius.html), which is about the colonisation of Tasmania. I haven't read it. There are sample chapters on the author's website so you can get an idea of whether it interests you. Also, the author posted on another thread here that he had review copies available (http://www.historicalfictiononline.com/ ... php?t=5465), so you could contact him if you're interested in reviewing it.