Staff Picks
Under the Southern Cross: Australian Reads
- Sara M.
- Tuesday, June 11, 2019
Collection
Check out some of these books by authors from the land down under! From suburban domestic thrillers to cattle station memoirs to explorations of indigenous culture, there's something for everybody in Australian literature.
White Gardenia
Published in 2015
"From internationally bestselling author Belinda Alexandra comes a sweeping, emotional journey that depicts vividly the powerful lifelong bond between mothers and daughters"-- Provided by publisher.
The Power of One
Published in 2005
Follows Peekay, a white British boy in South Africa during World War II, between the ages of five and eleven, as he survives an abusive boarding school and goes on to succeed in life and the boxing ring, with help from a chicken, a boxer, a pianist, black African prisoners, and many others.
Gould's Book of Fish
A Novel in Twelve Fish
Published in 2014
Once upon a time, when the earth was still young, before the fish in the sea and all the living things on land began to be destroyed, a man named William Buelow Gould was sentenced to life imprisonment at the most feared penal colony in the British Empire, and there ordered to paint a book of fish. He fell in love with the black mistress of the warder and discovered too late that to love is not safe; he attempted to keep a record of the strange reality he saw in prison, only to realize that history is not written by those who are ruled. Acclaimed as a masterpiece around the world, Gould's Book of Fish is at once a marvelously imagined epic of nineteenth-century Australia and a contemporary fable, a tale of horror, and a celebration of love, all transformed by a convict painter into pictures of fish.
My Brilliant Career
Published in 2010
"My Brilliant Career" is the story of Sybylla, a headstrong young girl growing up in early 20th century Australia. Sybylla rejects the opportunity to marry a wealthy young man in order to maintain her independence. As a consequence she must take a job as a governess to a local family to which her father is indebted. "My Brilliant Career" is an early romantic novel by this popular Australian author.
Cocaine Blues
Published in 2007
Phyrne Fisher heads for Melbourne, Australia, where she encounters a mystery involving poisoned wives, cocaine smuggling, corrupt cops, and communism.
The Dry
Published in 2017
" ''One of the most stunning debuts I've ever read . . . Every word is near perfect.' -- David Baldacci. A small town hides big secrets in The Dry, an atmospheric, page-turning debut mystery by award-winning author Jane Harper. After getting a note demanding his presence, Federal Agent Aaron Falk arrives in his hometown for the first time in decades to attend the funeral of his best friend, Luke. Twenty years ago when Falk was accused of murder, Luke was his alibi. Falk and his father fled under a cloud of suspicion, saved from prosecution only because of Luke's steadfast claim that the boys had been together at the time of the crime. But now more than one person knows they didn't tell the truth back then, and Luke is dead. Amid the worst drought in a century, Falk and the local detective question what really happened to Luke. As Falk reluctantly investigates to see if there's more to Luke's death than there seems to be, long-buried mysteries resurface, as do the lies that have haunted them. And Falk will find that small towns have always hidden big secrets. "-- Provided by publisher.
Butterfly
Published in 2010
In 1980s Australia, nearly fourteen-year-old Ariella "Plum" Coyle fears the disapproval of her friends, feels inferior to her older brothers, and hates her awkward, adolescent body but when her glamorous neighbor befriends her, Plum starts to become what she wants to be--until she discovers her neighbor's ulterior motive.
Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith
Published in 2015
A tormented and humiliated mixed-race Australian man reaches his breaking point and takes terrifying revenge on his abusers in this critically acclaimed novel based on actual events In Australia at the turn of the twentieth century, Jimmie Blacksmith is desperate to figure out where he belongs. Half-Anglo and half-Aboriginal, he feels out of place in both cultures. Schooled in the ways of white society by a Protestant missionary, Jimmie forsakes tribal customs, adopts the white man's religion, marries a white woman, and seeks a life of honest labor in a world Aborigines are normally barred from entering. But he will always be seen as less than human by the employers who cheat and exploit him, the fellow workers who deride him, and the wife who betrays him-and a man can only take so much. Driven by hopelessness, rage, and despair, Jimmie commits a series of savage and terrible acts of vengeance and becomes something he never thought he'd be: a murderer, a fugitive, and, ultimately, a legend. Based on shocking real-life events, The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith is a powerful tale of racism, identity, intolerance, and murder from the celebrated bestselling author of Schindler's List, Thomas Keneally. This magnificent historical novel remains a stunning, provocative, and profoundly affecting reading experience.
Burial Rites
A Novel
Published in 2013
Set against Iceland's stark landscape, Hannah Kent brings to vivid life the story of Agnes, who, charged with the brutal murder of her former master, is sent to an isolated farm to await execution. Horrified at the prospect of housing a convicted murderer, the family at first avoids Agnes. Only Tóti, a priest Agnes has mysteriously chosen to be her spiritual guardian, seeks to understand her. But as Agnes's death looms, the farmer's wife and their daughters learn there is another side to the sensational story they've heard. ... BURIAL RITES evokes a dramatic existence in a distant time and place -- provided by publisher.
The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf
Published in 2014
Taking refuge among other teens who are in hiding from a government threatened by their supernatural powers, Ashala covertly practices her abilities only to be captured and interrogated for information about the location of her friends.
Picnic at Hanging Rock
A Novel
Published in 2014
" It was a cloudless summer day in the year 1900. Everyone at Appleyard College for Young Ladies agreed it was just right for a picnic at Hanging Rock. After lunch, a group of three girls climbed into the blaze of the afternoon sun, pressing on through the scrub into the shadows of the secluded volcanic outcropping. Farther, higher, until at last they disappeared. They never returned. Haunting, mysterious, and subtly erotic, Picnic at Hanging Rock inspired the iconic 1975 film of the same name by Peter Weir. A beguiling masterpiece of Australian literature, it stands with Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived in the Castle and Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca as a masterpiece of otherworldly intrigue"-- Provided by publisher.
The Power of Bones
From a Troubled Childhood to Running a Cattle Station One Woman's Heartbreaking but Uplifting Story of Triumph
Published in 2014
It looked bleak and predictable for little Keelen Mailman, who was forced to live with an alcoholic mother, absent father, the horrors of regular sexual and physical assault, and the casual racism of a small outback town in the 1960s. But somehow, despite the pain and deprivation, as well as a lost education, she managed to absorb her mother's lessons: her Bidjara language and culture, her obligations to her country, and her ability to stand up for herself. So, it was no surprise to some that a girl who could hide for a year in her own home to keep her family together, run as fast as Raylene Boyle, and catch porcupine and goanna, would one day make history. At just 30, and as a single mother, Keelen became the first Indigenous woman to run a commercial cattle station when she took over Mt. Tabor, which is located two hours from Augathella on the black soil plains of western Queensland. This is the heartland of Bidjara country, after all-the place her mother, grandparents, and great-grandparents had camped on and cared for, and where their ancestors left their marks on caves and rock walls more than 10,000 years ago. In this unflinching memoir, Keelen's warmth, determination, and irresistible humor shine through as she recalls her extraordinary life.
Tomorrow, when the War Began
Published in 2006
Seven Australian teenagers return from a camping trip in the bush to discover that their country has been invaded and they must hide to stay alive.
My Place
Published in 2014
Looking at the views and experiences of three generations of indigenous Australians, this autobiography unearths political and societal issues contained within Australia's indigenous culture. Sally Morgan traveled to her grandmother's birthplace, starting a search for information about her family. She uncovers that she is not white but aborigine-information that was kept a secret because of the stigma of society. This moving account is a classic of Australian literature that finally frees the tongues of the author's mother and grandmother, allowing them to tell their own stories.
Sister Heart
Published in 2015
A young Aboriginal girl is taken from the north of Australia and sent to an institution in the distant south. There, she slowly makes a new life for herself and, in the face of tragedy, finds strength in new friendships. Poignantly told from the child's perspective, Sister Heart affirms the power of family and kinship. This compelling novel about the stolen generations helps teachers sensitively introduce into the classroom one of world's most confronting histories.
Big Little Lies
Published in 2014
Follows three mothers, each at a crossroads, and their potential involvement in a riot at a school trivia night that leaves one parent dead in what appears to be a tragic accident, but which evidence shows might have been premeditated.
Jasper Jones
A Novel
Published in 2011
In small-town Australia, teens Jasper and Charlie form an unlikely friendship when one asks the other to help him cover up a murder until they can prove who is responsible.
The Rosie Project
A Novel
Published in 2013
Don Tillman, professor of genetics, has never been on a second date. He is a man who can count all his friends on the fingers of one hand, whose lifelong difficulty with social rituals has convinced him that he is simply not wired for romance. So when an acquaintance informs him that he would make a "wonderful" husband, his first reaction is shock. Yet he must concede to the statistical probability that there is someone for everyone, and he embarks upon The Wife Project. In the orderly, evidence-based manner with which he approaches all things, Don sets out to find the perfect partner. He sets up a project designed to find him the perfect wife, starting with a questionnaire that has to be adjusted a little as he goes along. She will be punctual and logical, most definitely not a barmaid, a smoker, a drinker, or a late-arriver. Then he meets Rosie Jarman, who is everything he's not looking for in a wife. Rosie is all these things. She is also beguiling, fiery, intelligent, and on a quest of her own. She is looking for her biological father, a search that a certain DNA expert might be able to help her with. Don's Wife Project takes a back burner to the Father Project and an unlikely relationship blooms, forcing the scientifically minded geneticist to confront the spontaneous whirlwind that is Rosie, and the realization that love is not always what looks good on paper.
The Man Who Loved Children
Published in 2012
The Man Who Loved Children is a brutally honest examination of domestic life and family. Sam and Henny Pollit have too much-too much contempt for one another, too many children, too much strain under endless obligation. Flush with ego and a chilling domestic power, Sam torments his children, bending and manipulating their seemingly limitless love to his overbearing advantage, while Henny looks on desperately, all too aware of the madness at its root. A favorite novel of Jonathan Franzen and Randall Jarrell, among many others, The Man Who Loved Children stands as Christina Stead's masterwork.
The Light Between Oceans
A Novel
Published in 2012
"A novel set on a remote Australian island, where a childless couple live quietly running a lighthouse, until a boat carrying a baby washes ashore"-- Provided by publisher.
Seven Little Australians
Published in 2013
This is the first and most famous book of Ethel Sybil Turner, an Australian children book writer. The fascinating story of seven children who live with their father, an army Captain, and a twenty-year-old stepmom. It was adopted as a Australian film in 1939, then a 6 mini-series in UK around 1953 by BBC.
Nyarla and the Circle of Stones
Published in 2014
Always wanted to know more about Aboriginal Australia? Come on a journey through time with warriors of the enigmatic Fethafoot Clan. For 50,000 years my clan have solved problems for the Australian Heart-rock people. Now for the first time in our history, you too can explore our stories. My Clan's name and its mysteries have always been kept out of public knowledge and history, in my home of Australia. It's the way the Clan work. To do what they do, secrecy is a prerequisite to safeguard the work and people. For the first time in our long, oral history, we have a means to reveal the long and intriguing history of our covert Clan to other Australians, to the many new people's who now call this majestic land home: and to the modern world at large. If you were born in Australia, you may have even heard such stories told around campfires and family meals, about the Australian Aboriginal magic man - or Kadaicha, as our people named our Clan many years ago. We call ourselves: the Fethafoot. During the 10 tales, you'll find that many of the elder warriors were advanced in spiritual travel and did not travel via 'shanks pony' - as walking is often called in Australia. Instead, they used the ancient Dreamtime 'creation-lines' running across our country, to move swiftly across their lands. Thus, in a mixture of fear and awe the Clan became known as the Fethafoot - half-man, half-spirit beings - who could come and go at will, leaving no trace: Kadaicha spirit-warriors; The Fethafoot.
The Swan Book
A Novel
Published in 2016
"An inventive, cacophonous novel about an Aboriginal girl living in a future world turned upside down--where ancient myths exist side-by-side with present-day realities. Oblivia Ethelyne was given her name by an old woman who found her deep in the bowels of a gum tree, tattered and fragile, the victim of a brutal assault by wayward local youths. These are the years leading up to Australia's third centenary, and the woman who finds her, Bella Donna of the Champions, is a refugee from climate change wars that devastated her country in the northern hemisphere. Bella Donna takes Oblivia to live with her on an old warship in a polluted dry swamp and there she fills Oblivia's head with story upon story of swans. Fenced off from the rest of Australia by the Army, its traditional custodians left destitute, the swamp has become "the world's most unknown detention camp" for Indigenous Australians. When Warren Finch, the first Aboriginal president of Australia invades the swamp with his charismatic persona and the promise of salvation, Oblivia agrees to marry him, becoming First Lady, a role that has her confined to a tower in a flooded and lawless southern city. In this multilayered novel, winnter of the Australian Literature Society's Gold Medal, Wright toys with the edges of the world we live in to offer us an intimate portrait of the realities facing Aboriginal people. We meet talking monkeys, genies with doctorates, spirit-guiding swans, and a whole cast of characters drawn from myth and legend and fairy tales. Through symbolism and a dazzling linguistic dexterity--the blending of words and phrases from high and low culture, from English, Aboriginal languages, French, and Latin--Wright beautifully demonstrates how the power of the human imagination can set us free"-- Provided by publisher.
The Book Thief
Published in 2016
Trying to make sense of the horrors of World War II, Death relates the story of Liesel--a young German girl whose book-stealing and story-telling talents help sustain her family and the Jewish man they are hiding, as well as their neighbors.