Books: AUSTRALIA

AUSTRALIA

NONFICTION

The Road from Coorain: Recollections of a Harsh and Beautiful into Adulthood, Jill Ker Conway, 1992 — An incredible memoir about growing up in the outback, coming of age in Sydney of the 1950s and coming into her own as a historian and educator. Ker Conway ultimately became Smith College’s first female president.

The Songlines, Bruce Chatwin, 1987 — This brilliant meditation on why men wander and tell stories by one of the best travel writers of the 20th century illuminates much more than just the aboriginal culture.

Unreliable Memoirs, Clive James, 1981 — The prolific, award-winning Australian author’s acerbic memories of growing up in suburban Sydney.

Sydney, Jan Morris, 1992 — The author of numerous travel books, Morris gives a historical and social look at Australia’s largest city, founded in 1788 as a run-off for British convicts…

FICTION

Bliss, Peter Carey, 1981 — A satiric and highly entertaining novel delves into a Sydney ad-exec’s spiritual crisis.

The Unknown Terrorist: A Novel, Richard Flanagan, 2007 —A page-turner about a Sydney pole-dancer whose one-night-stand puts her under suspicion for abetting a terrorist in the attempted bombing of Sydney’s Olympic stadium.

Lillian’s Story, Kate Grenville, 1986 —A poetic first novel that creates a fictional autobiography for Lil Sanger, a trouble Sydney homeless woman; the emotional survival story won the Austalian/Vogel award.