Book picks similar to
All The Green Year by Don Charlwood


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All That I Am


Anna Funder - 2011
    Ten years later, Ruth and Hans are married and living in Weimar Berlin when Hitler is elected chancellor of Germany. Together with Dora and her lover, Ernst Toller, the celebrated poet and self-doubting revolutionary, the four become hunted outlaws overnight and are forced to flee to London. Inspired by the fearless Dora to breathtaking acts of courage, the friends risk betrayal and deceit as they dedicate themselves to a dangerous mission: to inform the British government of the very real Nazi threat to which it remains willfully blind. All That I Am is the heartbreaking story of these extraordinary people, who discover that Hitler’s reach extends much further than they had thought.Gripping, compassionate, and inspiring, this remarkable debut novel reveals an uncommon depth of humanity and wisdom. Anna Funder has given us a searing and intimate portrait of courage and its price, of desire and ambition, and of the devastating consequences when they are thwarted.

Playing Beatie Bow


Ruth Park - 1980
    Distraught over her parents' separation, Abigail follows a strange child called Beatie Bow and time slips back a hundred years where she becomes involved with an Australian shopkeeper's family.

The Fringe Dwellers


Nene Gare - 1961
    Noonah accepts her position as a dweller on the fringe of Australian society but Trilby refuses to.

Eucalyptus


Murray Bail - 1998
    When Ellen turns nineteen Holland makes an announcement: she may marry only the man who can correctly name the species of each of the hundreds of gum trees on his property. Ellen is uninterested in the many suitors who arrive from around the world, until one afternoon she chances on a strange, handsome young man resting under a Coolibah tree. In the days that follow, he spins dozens of tales set in cities, deserts, and faraway countries. As the contest draws to a close, Ellen and the stranger's meetings become more erotic, the stories more urgent. Murray Bail's rich narrative is filled with unexpected wisdom about art, feminine beauty, landscape, and language. Eucalyptus is a shimmering love story that affirms the beguiling power of storytelling itself.

Johnno


David Malouf - 1975
    The photograph stirs up a lifetime of memories for Dante, leading him to finally set Johnno's story--which has haunted him for years--on paper. An outrageous character of legendary proportions, Johnno is brought top life in all his complexity, beginning with his days at Brisbane Grammar School, when he and Dante first become friends, to the days they spend together in Paris, Johnno's inexplicable rages and periodic transformations are recounted until we come to know him--without ever quite understanding him. Daring, impossible, and unpredictable, Johnno is a fascinating character. His shocking behavior awes some, annoys others, and provokes a good many more. Above all, though, he is thoroughly unforgettable.

Praise


Andrew McGahan - 1992
    A sequel to McGahan's "1988".

The Transit of Venus


Shirley Hazzard - 1980
    Courted long and hopelessly by young scientist, Ted Tice, she is to find that love brings passion, sorrow, betrayal and finally hope. The milder Grace seeks fulfilment in an apparently happy marriage. But as the decades pass and the characters weave in and out of each other's lives, love, death and two slow-burning secrets wait in ambush for them.

A Book for Kids


C.J. Dennis - 1921
    You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

Adults Only


Morris Gleitzman - 2001
    Packets and jars had been flung around. Half the stuff in the fridge was on the floor. There was a trail of flour running along the passage. For a second Jake thought one of the magazine people must have had an urge to make a cake and decided to do it in their room. Or was someone else in the house?Jake's an only kid.He's the only kid in his family.He's the only kid on his island.Or that's what he thinks...

Maestro


Peter Goldsworthy - 1989
    the occasion is a piano lesson, the first of many...

For the Term of His Natural Life


Marcus Clarke - 1874
    The most famous work by the Australian novelist and poet, For the Term of His Natural Life is a powerful tale of an Australian penal settlement, which originally appeared in serial form in a Melbourne paper.

Where Fortune Lies


Mary-Anne O'Connor - 2020
    For fans of Nicole Alexander, Colleen McCullough, and Fiona McIntosh.1879: 'Invisible' Anne Brown fears she'll never escape the harshness and poverty of her life in County Donegal, Ireland. Until, one heartbreaking Beltane night, her life is changed forever and she leaves to seek her fortune in far-flung Australia.Upon the death of their father, charismatic Will Worthington and his beloved sister Mari are stunned to find he has left all their money and a ticket to the far shores of Australia to an enigmatic painted woman. It seems their only hope for a brighter future also lies in Australia, where together with Will's best friend, the artist Charlie Turner, they seek their fortunes.Charlie finds love with a mysterious exotic dancer, yet there is trouble on the horizon. His new friends up in the Victorian Alps might be teaching him to run with the wild horses and find his talent with a brush at last, but life in a bushranger gang is a dangerous game.As Charlie struggles to break free from his fate, all four are left with impossible choices as fortunes waver between life and death, loyalty and the heart.

Soldier on the Hill


Jackie French - 1997
    But Joey discovers a Japanese soldier hiding in the hills outside the country town where they now live. What can he do?

Voss


Patrick White - 1957
    Although they have met only on a few occasions, Voss and Laura are joined by overwhelming, obsessive feelings for each other. Voss sets out to cross the continent, and as hardships, mutiny and betrayal whittle away his power to endure and to lead, his attachment to Laura gradually increases. Laura, waiting in Sydney, moves through the months of separation as if they were a dream and Voss the only reality.

An Open Swimmer


Tim Winton - 1982
    Jerra's friends and family want to know when he will finish university, and when he will find a girl. But they don't understand about Sean's mother, Jewel, or the bush, or the fish with the pearl. They think he needs a job but what Jerra is searching for is more elusive. Only the sea, and perhaps the old man who lives in a shack beside it, can help.