A curated list of 35 notable Australian novels along with brief descriptions that capture their themes and settings.
Thomas Keneally’s novel introduces Jimmy Blacksmith, a young man of mixed heritage in turn-of-the-century Australia. Jimmy desperately wants a better life and tries to fit into the world of white settlers. However, people exploit him and show prejudice.
His attempts fail, and his desperation pushes him toward violent rebellion. It’s a powerful story about identity, injustice, and the struggle to survive when society refuses acceptance.
Patrick White’s Voss follows the ambitious explorer Johann Voss. He leads an expedition deep into the Australian outback. You witness his immense struggle against the brutal wilderness and his own internal demons.
Simultaneously, the story reveals his profound connection to Laura, a woman in the city. Their bond persists through letters and a deep, unspoken understanding, even across vast distances. The narrative shifts between the harsh landscape and the characters’ intense emotions.
In James Vance Marshall’s Walkabout, two American siblings survive a plane crash only to find themselves stranded in the vast Australian outback. Their survival depends on an Aboriginal boy they encounter during his ritual journey, or walkabout.
He guides them through the unforgiving environment. The differences between their cultures create some fascinating and tense situations.
Kate Grenville’s The Secret River centers on William Thornhill. He was a convict transported from London who claims land along the Hawkesbury River in the early 1800s.
He wants to build a life for his family, but this brings him into direct conflict with the Dharug people, who have always lived there. The story shows the raw tension, misunderstandings, and violence that flared between settlers and Indigenous Australians over land.
Nevil Shute’s A Town Like Alice introduces Jean Paget. She is a young Englishwoman who endured terrible hardship as a prisoner of war in Malaya during World War II. After the war, she receives an inheritance and travels to Australia.
She decides to use her resources to transform a small, rough outback town into a prosperous community, similar to Alice Springs. Her journey shows incredible resilience, hope, and features a touching romance.
Joan Lindsay’s Picnic at Hanging Rock presents an eerie puzzle. On Valentine’s Day in 1900, a group of schoolgirls and their teacher visit Hanging Rock for a picnic. Several of them vanish without a trace.
The Australian bush setting adds to the mystery and unease that surrounds their disappearance. The event deeply affects the community left behind. Strange details surface, but the questions remain unanswered, and characters must cope with the unknown.
Peter Carey’s True History of the Kelly Gang gives a voice to Ned Kelly, Australia’s most famous outlaw. The book reads as if Kelly himself wrote it, a series of letters addressed to his daughter.
It vividly portrays his life from impoverished childhood through violent encounters to his status as a legend. The narrative examines his close family relationships and the injustices that pushed him down his path.
Tim Winton’s Cloudstreet tells the saga of two families, the Lambs and the Pickles. For two decades, they share a large, peculiar house on Cloud Street in Perth. You follow their struggles, joys, losses, and the surprising ways their lives intertwine.
The house itself almost seems like a character. Its history and strange atmosphere influence everyone who lives within its walls.
Thomas Keneally sets An Angel in Australia in Sydney during World War II. Father Frank Darragh, a young Catholic priest, confronts moral and social difficulties in a city gripped by wartime anxiety. He gets drawn into the life of a woman in danger.
This involvement makes him question his faith and duties. The book blends personal turmoil with the wider effects of the war on 1940s Australian society.
Ethel Pedley’s Dot and the Kangaroo is about a little girl named Dot who gets lost in the Australian bush. A friendly kangaroo finds her and offers help. The kangaroo eats special berries that allow Dot to understand animal speech.
Together, they journey to find Dot’s home, and along the way, Dot learns about the unique animals and plants of the bush from her new friend.
In Jane Harper’s The Dry, federal agent Aaron Falk returns to Kiewarra, his drought-ravaged hometown. He attends the funeral of a childhood friend, Luke, who apparently killed his wife and son before himself. Falk stays and reluctantly gets pulled into the investigation.
He starts to uncover secrets buried deep within the community and within his own past connection to the town. The parched landscape is a constant, tense presence.
Norman Lindsay’s The Magic Pudding is a wonderfully absurd children’s story. It features Albert, a grumpy pudding who magically replenishes himself no matter how much you eat. Albert wears a basin for a hat.
Bunyip Bluegum, a polite koala, joins forces with Bill Barnacle, a sailor, and Sam Sawnoff, a penguin, to protect Albert from persistent pudding thieves. It’s full of funny arguments and adventures.
Robbery Under Arms by Rolf Boldrewood plunges you into the world of bushrangers in the Australian outback. Dick Marston narrates the story. He recounts his life of crime with his brother Jim and the dashing, mysterious Captain Starlight.
Their exploits range from cattle theft, known as duffing, to daring gold robberies and escapes across the harsh landscapes of 19th-century Australia.
John Marsden’s Tomorrow, When the War Began starts with a group of teenagers returning from a remote camping trip in the bush. They find their homes empty, their families gone, and their country invaded by an unknown enemy force.
Ellie narrates their story of survival as they hide out in a secluded, wild valley they name “Hell.” From ordinary teens, they must become resourceful fighters.
Patrick White wrote The Tree of Man, the story of Stan and Amy Parker. They establish a farm in the Australian bush when it is still wilderness.
The book chronicles their long lives together through marriage, raising children, hardships like fire and flood, and the changes that slowly arrive with modernization. It captures their quiet existence and connects their simple lives to profound human experiences.
Wild Cat Falling by Mudrooroo follows a young Aboriginal man recently released from prison. He wanders the streets of Perth and struggles to find his place in a society that feels alien and hostile.
He reflects on identity, alienation, and the constant effort to survive when marginalized. The book gives a raw insight into his experiences between two cultures.
George Johnston’s My Brother Jack compares the lives of two brothers, David and Jack Meredith, in Australia during the first half of the 20th century. David, the narrator, is introspective and becomes a writer. Jack is physically confident, sociable, and seeks action.
Their different paths highlight conflicts between intellectual ambition and traditional Australian masculinity, shaped by war and changing social norms.
Power Without Glory by Frank Hardy is a controversial novel based on real figures in Melbourne. It traces the ruthless rise of John West from a working-class background.
He uses any means necessary – corruption, betrayal, manipulation – to accumulate wealth and political influence. The story exposes the dark side of ambition and power in early 20th-century Australia.
Liane Moriarty’s Big Little Lies unfolds in a wealthy coastal town in Australia. The lives of three women—Madeline, Celeste, and Jane—become entangled through their children starting kindergarten. Madeline deals with her ex-husband living nearby.
Celeste has a seemingly perfect marriage that hides abuse. Jane is a young single mother haunted by her past. Schoolyard politics escalate until secrets explode on trivia night, which results in a death.
Melina Marchetta’s Looking for Alibrandi centers on Josephine Alibrandi during her final year of Catholic school in Sydney. She feels caught between her Italian family heritage and Australian life.
She deals with intense study pressures, finds her estranged father suddenly back in her life, and navigates a challenging romance. Josephine’s voice is sharp and honest as she figures out who she is.
Ethel Turner’s Seven Little Australians introduces the Woolcot family in late 19th-century Sydney. The seven children are full of mischief and often clash with their stern father, Captain Woolcot, and young stepmother.
Judy, the rebellious and adventurous third child, leads many of their escapades. The story captures their boisterous family life, childhood adventures, and moments of unexpected sadness.
Miles Franklin wrote My Brilliant Career when she was just a teenager. It’s the story of Sybylla Melvyn, a fiercely intelligent and imaginative young woman stuck in the poverty and isolation of the Australian bush.
She yearns for a different life, perhaps as a writer or musician, but faces pressure to marry. Sybylla’s passionate spirit clashes with the limitations placed on women in her time.
Xavier Herbert’s Capricornia offers a sprawling, satirical look at life in Australia’s Northern Territory (“Capricornia”) before World War II. The plot follows several characters, including Norman (“Nawnim”) Shillingsworth, a young man of mixed Indigenous and white heritage.
He struggles with his identity in a society rife with racism and hypocrisy. The novel vividly portrays the harsh landscape and the complex, often brutal, interactions between different groups.
Written under the name Mrs Aeneas Gunn, We of the Never Never is Jeannie Gunn’s memoir of her time in the Australian outback around 1902. As a young woman from Melbourne, she moved with her husband to Elsey Station, a remote cattle station in the Northern Territory.
She describes the challenges of adapting to the extreme environment, her friendships with the station workers, and her interactions with the local Aboriginal people.
Alexis Wright’s Carpentaria is set in the fictional town of Desperance in the Gulf of Carpentaria. The narrative weaves together the lives of the Aboriginal community, particularly the Phantom family led by Norm Phantom, the king of the rubbish dump.
They confront multinational mining companies, social divisions within their own town, and environmental dangers. The story blends realism with myth and the power of the land itself.
David Malouf’s Remembering Babylon takes place in mid-19th-century Queensland. Gemmy Fairley, a young white man raised by Aboriginal people after being shipwrecked as a boy, attempts to rejoin white society. His appearance terrifies a small group of isolated settlers.
His presence forces them to confront their fears about the strange land they inhabit and the nature of belonging.
Colin Thiele’s Storm Boy is a touching story about a boy named Mike who lives a solitary life with his father in the Coorong, a unique coastal region in South Australia. Mike rescues three orphaned pelican chicks and raises one, Mr. Percival. They form an incredible bond.
The book beautifully describes the natural environment and explores themes of friendship, loss, and connection to wildlife.
For the Term of His Natural Life by Marcus Clarke is a classic Australian novel about the brutal convict system.
It follows Richard Devine, later known as Rufus Dawes, who is wrongly convicted and transported to penal settlements like Macquarie Harbour and Port Arthur in Tasmania during the 19th century.
The story details the horrific conditions, the cruelty he endures, and his attempts to survive and maintain his humanity.
M. L. Stedman’s The Light Between Oceans is set on Janus Rock, a remote lighthouse island off the coast of Western Australia after World War I. Tom Sherbourne, the lighthouse keeper, and his wife Isabel are desperate for a child. One day, a boat washes ashore.
It holds a dead man and a living baby girl. They make the fateful decision to raise the child as their own, which leads to devastating consequences years later.
Darren Williams sets Angel Rock in a small, isolated Australian town reeling from tragedy. Fifteen-year-old Tom witnesses his younger brother vanish. As the community searches and grieves, a Sydney detective arrives.
He is investigating the separate, earlier death of a teenage girl found near Angel Rock. The story explores the hidden grief, guilt, and secrets beneath the surface of the tight-knit town.
Ivan Southall’s Ash Road throws a group of teenagers into terrifying circumstances. Three boys, camping during a heatwave, accidentally start a bushfire. The fire rapidly spreads towards the small settlement along Ash Road.
The story follows the separate experiences of the boys and other children in the path of the fire as they face the disaster without adult help. It’s a tense story of survival and courage.
James Moloney’s A Bridge to Wiseman’s Cove features Carl Matt, a large, shy teenager. After his mother disappears, he and his younger brother are sent to live with their estranged aunt in the small fishing town of Wattle Beach. Carl finds work on a barge run by Skip Duncan.
He slowly builds confidence and finds a sense of belonging despite prejudice from some locals and neglect from his aunt.
Bryce Courtenay’s Brother Fish connects the lives of three unlikely people across continents and decades.
There’s Jacko McKenzie, an Australian soldier captured during the Korean War; Jimmy Oldcorn, a fellow prisoner from London; and Huynh, a young girl Jacko later encounters in Vietnam. Their enduring loyalty and friendship form the heart of the story.
Jacko eventually settles in a Tasmanian fishing village, where his past and friendships continue to shape his life.
The Dead of the Night is the second book in John Marsden’s Tomorrow series. Ellie and her friends continue their guerrilla war against the occupying forces in their hometown, Wirrawee. They carry out risky sabotage missions from their hidden base in Hell.
The stakes get higher, losses mount, and the teenagers grapple with the moral complexities and emotional toll of their fight for survival.
Ivan Southall’s Hills End begins in a small Australian timber town called Hills End. A group of children and their teacher explore caves near the town just as a violent cyclonic storm hits. They emerge to find the town completely devastated and cut off.
With the adults missing or injured, the children must rely on each other to find shelter, food, and safety.