Books to Read Before You Go To Australia

Between its origins as a penal colony, its rich indigenous culture and its bevy of unique and bizarre creatures (the platypus? c’mon), Australia was made for writers. And that’s before you add in the element of life-threatening danger that the country presents every time you step out the door — or at least that’s what Bill Bryson would have you think. But to get you up to speed on its history, nature and culture, here are the best books to read before you go to Australia.

The Harp in the South by Ruth Park

Park’s vivid accounting of Sydney’s tenements during the Depression has become an Australian classic. Park’s Darcy family is the Australian immigrant everyman struggling to survive.

In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson

From our generation’s favorite travel memoirist comes this riveting journey across the unforgiving, bizarre and often hilarious Australian landscape. Bryson discusses the people, nature and history of what may be Earth’s strangest place.

The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough

The Thorn Birds tells the sweeping story of three generations of the Cleary family in the Outback: their loves, struggles, tragedies and triumphs. The book has sold more than 10 million copies and spawned a beloved television series.

Cloudstreet: A Novel by Tim Winton

Winton’s novel is the story of two opposite families in the mid-1900s who have to endure each other while surviving in Perth’s tough suburbs.

Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay

This book recounts one of Australia’s prevailing mysteries: What happened to the group of female students who inexplicably vanish during a picnic at Hanging Rock? People go back and forth about whether this novel is fiction or not.