Classics Australia

This annotated edition includes: The complete 1901 novel, with Henry Lawson's original preface — the writer who discovered the manuscript and carried it to his own publishers in Edinburgh A critical afterword, "The Book She Hid," on the novel Miles Franklin was so unsettled by her neighbours' reaction to that she suppressed its sequel for forty years and forbade the book's own republication until after her death A biographical portrait separating the author from the heroine readers insisted on mistaking her for A chronology and a Note on the Text She wrote the most famous "no" in ...

'Charming, very funny indeed. Angela Thirkell is perhaps the most Pym-like of any twentieth-century author, after Pym herself' Alexander McCall Smith It is wartime in Barsetshire, and so much has changed. Belier's Priory is now a hospital for wounded soldiers, and Sir Harry and Lady Waring have...

“A rare kind of writer and a formidable one.” —The New York Times “Wood inserts the reader straight into the jaws of her story, never relenting until the devastating end. If you raced through I Who Have Never Known Men or The Handmaid’s Tale and are looking for something with the same...

Colditz Castle was Nazi Germany’s infamous ‘escape-proof’ wartime prison, where hundreds of the most determined and resourceful Allied prisoners were sent. Despite having more guards than inmates, Australian Lieutenant Jack Champ and other prisoners tirelessly carried out their campaign to...

Sybylla Melvin is a misfit. She barely endures the dreary life of dairy farming in a family that can hardly make ends meet. Out of the blue, she is invited to move back to the family property, Caddagat, to live with Grannie, Aunt Helen, and Uncle Jay Jay. With a cast of interesting neighbors and friends, Sybylla finally seems to discover hope in the world. She is nourished by thoughtful conversation, books, and music. Harold Beecham's love, however, throws her into indecision and painful tension.

Jack Middleton likes to imagine himself a country squire. At weekends he retires to Laverings Estate with his wife, Catherine. He may be pompous, and they may seem ill-matched, but the couple are devoted to each other. When Jack's widowed sister, Lilian, and her two stepchildren arrive to spend...

'An Australian classic in the making.' Australian Women's Weekly 'A rich Australian epic.' New York Times 'A masterful examination of loss . . . A remarkable, poignant tale.' Guardian 'A satisfying and superior work of commercial fiction.' The Australian 'A masterful saga well worth the wait...

One family. Thirty years. A continent still becoming itself. The Fortunes of Richard Mahony is the great Australian novel - a sweeping trilogy that follows Richard and Mary Mahony from the chaos of the Victorian gold rush through wealth, ruin, and the devastating beauty of a life lived in the wrong place at the wrong time. First published between 1917 and 1929, this masterpiece by Henry Handel Richardson is now recognised as one of the towering achievements of twentieth-century literature in English. Sinclair Lewis called it a truly major work of fiction. It remains one of the most honest ...

Deep in the heart of Australia's high country, along an ancient, hidden track, live Molly Johnson and her children. Husband Joe is away droving, leaving his family in the bush to fend for itself. Molly's children are her world, and life is hard with only their dog, Alligator, and a shotgun for...

'Fast Paced Action Packed and 100% Funny Satirical Parody.' SHAKESPEARE ON THE ROOF Jack Hamma, an SAS Special Forces Commando, is sent on a top secret mission to assassinate a terrorist leader who is bunkered down on an island in the Indian Ocean. The action has only just begun when Jack and his co-assassin are ambushed by right wing terrorists. Jack is the action hero par excellence but has he met his match in the form of the beautiful Kashmere? IN BED WITH JANE AUSTEN Private Detective, Jack Hamma, receives an emergency phone call to escort a seventeen year old girl home from school, the...

A first-rate thriller about an American millionaire who owns the House of Cain, a haven for murderers wanted by the law. Austilene Thorpe is accused of murder but then disappears from gaol. Her fiance, Martin Sherwood, goes blind from shock. His famous adventuring brother Monty learns that Austilene is in a refuge for murderers in the far north-east corner of South Australia, and together the Sherwoods set out to find her and bring her back to Melbourne....

A storm stole Midnight from everything he had ever known. Lost among the rugged mountains of the Australian high country, the young black brumby expects only loneliness. Instead, he discovers Fernhill Valley—a peaceful place where kindness is measured not by words, but by deeds. There he meets an unforgettable group of friends: wise old stock horse Old Blue, practical Matilda the wombat, ever-laughing Banjo the kookaburra, adventurous Piper the sugar glider, resourceful Cedric the echidna, mischievous Dusty the young dingo, and the quietly watchful Myrtle. Together they face hidden ...

What makes for a surfing life? With a blaze of groundbreaking performances and a swag of titles claimed from all over the world to his name, Australian world champion surfer Nat Young might know. His seventieth birthday inspired some reflection on exactly that, and on the waves and characters...

Two full-cast adaptations from the iconic Australian feminist novelist, Miles Franklin These stunning dramatisations recount the life of an impassioned, ambitious Australian heroine, frustrated by rural bush life at the turn of the last century. Born in 1879, writer Stella Miles Franklin grew up...

Josh and Samantha fall in love, their attraction to one another defies everything they believe in. They share a passion that is bound to erupt like a volcano and then, who knows?' 'It is a love story yes but it is more than that it is a fascinating insight into the world of the back packer. Travelers and travel is what this very readable volume is all about, it is not a tour guide it is an insight into the day to day world of being on tour.' The almost winner of The Constable Trophy. I entered A Foxtrot Through India in The Constable Trophy and when I went to the prize giving all the judges...

In the summer of 1944 returning soldiers Canning Christie and his father Michael arrive in South Australia from the desert sands of North Africa. Canning carries the trauma of war and a fractured memory of a terrible event, while charismatic Michael resumes his womanising ways, intent on...

WINNER OF THE 2026 INDIE BOOK AWARD - CHILDREN'S Discover the Wundrous world of Nevermoor in the highly anticipated fourth book in the New York Times bestselling series. Morrigan Crow is ready for a new adventure. In Silverborn: The Mystery of Morrigan Crow, we will travel to places in Nevermoor...

With more than half a million copies in print worldwide and now in this stunning hardback edition, How to Read a Book is the classic and definitive guide to reading comprehension for students of literature, scholars across disciplines, and anyone who just loves to read. Originally written in...

In 1902, newly-married Jeannie Gunn (Mrs Aeneas Gunn) left the security and comfort of her Melbourne home to travel to the depths of the Northern Territory, Australia, where her husband had been appointed manager of 'The Elsey', a large cattle station. One of the very few white women in the area, she was at first resented by people on and around the station, till her warmth and spirit won their affection and respect. This is her moving and simple account of her life amidst the beauty and cruelty of the land.

Seven Little Australians is the story of the mischievous seven children of the Woolcot family - Meg, Pip, Judy, Bunty, Nell, Baby, and the General, whose father little understands them and whose young stepmother is hardly an adult herself. The Australian bush sets an iconic backdrop for the misadventures of this energetic mob.