21 Books Set in Australia That Feel Wild, Beautiful, and Unforgettable
Inspire your travels to the Land Down Under with these unforgettable books set in Australia.
Australia is a country of striking contrasts — from the turquoise waters of the Great Barrier Reef and golden beaches to the vast, unforgiving Outback. It’s also home to vibrant cities like Sydney and Melbourne, where modern life meets laid-back coastal culture.
These novels capture every side of Australia — its beauty, harshness, history, and heart.
If you want to experience the Land Down Under through fiction and memoir, these are the best books set in Australia to pick up next.
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Best Books Set in Australia
The Exiles
Author: Christina Baker Kline
This historical fiction novel, set in the nineteenth century, offers a glimpse of Australia in its days as a British penal colony.
The story follows a young governess from London who is sent to Australia as punishment for becoming pregnant by her employer’s son. On the boat, she befriends a young girl who has also been sentenced to Australia for stealing a silver spoon.
Why you’ll love it
Emotional historical fiction with strong female characters and raw atmosphere.
Perfect for
Readers who love The Light Between Oceans and historical survival stories.
Tracks
Author: Robyn Davidson
In this unforgettable memoir, Robyn Davidson recounts her solo journey across 1,700 miles of the Australian Outback.
Her personal pilgrimage takes her across the most remote and desolate part of the country, with just her dog and four unpredictable camels, on a remarkable journey.
Why you’ll love it
Raw, reflective, and deeply immersive travel writing.
Perfect for
Readers who love true adventure and wilderness journeys
The Light Between Oceans
Author: M. L. Stedman
Tom is a World War I veteran and lighthouse keeper in Australia, living with his wife, Isabel, who is desperate to have a baby.
Her prayers are answered when an infant washes ashore in a rowboat, and the couple decides to keep the baby without notifying the authorities. However, their choice to raise the baby as their own ends up leading to tragic, unexpected consequences.
Why you’ll love it
Emotional, morally complex, and devastatingly beautiful.
Perfect for
Fans of emotional literary fiction and coastal settings.
The Slap
Author: Christos Tsiolkas
This contemporary novel is told from the perspectives of eight individual characters who were present at a neighborhood barbecue when a man slaps his friend’s son in reprimand.
The story examines the consequences of this one action and the inner workings of domestic life.
Why you’ll love it
Dark, provocative, and psychologically intense.
Perfect for
Readers who enjoy character-driven domestic drama.
The Secret River
Author: Kate Grenville
A transported convict builds a new life on the banks of the Hawkesbury River in early colonial Australia.
This is a historical fiction novel set in the nineteenth century that follows a man who is sent to Australia in its early days as a British penal colony for punishment.
Why you’ll love it
Powerful exploration of colonization and guilt.
Perfect for
Readers who enjoy historical fiction with moral depth.
Cloudstreet
Author: Tim Winton
This classic Australian novel chronicles the lives of two working-class families, the Pickles and the Lambs, who live together in a large house called Cloudstreet in Perth, Western Australia.
The story follows the family over a period of twenty years, from 1943 to 1963. A deeply Australian story of love, fate, and everyday magic.
Why you’ll love it
Lyrical, nostalgic, and richly atmospheric.
Perfect for
Fans of multi-generational literary fiction.
Oscar and Lucinda
Author: Peter Carey
An unlikely romance between a clergyman and an eccentric glass factory owner in 19th-century Australia.
Their shared obsession leads them toward destiny and disaster.
Why you’ll love it
Quirky, romantic, and deeply original.
Perfect for
Readers who enjoy historical romance with eccentric characters.
Candy
Author: Luke Davies
In a fictional novel loosely based on the author’s own life, an unnamed narrator has an intense and destructive relationship with a woman named Candy.
This heartbreaking and darkly humorous novel explores themes of love, passion, and addiction with impact. Set in modern Australia, it explores obsession and dependency.
Why you’ll love it
Intense, emotional, and brutally honest.
Perfect for
Readers who enjoy dark, character-driven romance.
In a Sunburned Country
Author: Bill Bryson
A witty travel memoir exploring Australia’s landscapes, wildlife, and quirky history.
Award-winning travel writer Bill Bryson shares his experiences traversing Australia in this descriptive, delightful travelogue of the Land Down Under. From deserts to cities, Bryson brings the country to life with humor.
Why you’ll love it
Funny, informative, and endlessly readable.
Perfect for
Readers who love travel writing with personality.
True History of the Kelly Gang
Author: Peter Carey
A fictionalized account of infamous bushranger Ned Kelly and his outlaw life.
Written in a raw, rebellious voice, offering a glimpse into the notorious Ned Kelly, a legendary bushranger and criminal from Australia.
Why you’ll love it
Gritty, bold, and historically inspired.
Perfect for
Readers who enjoy outlaw legends and historical grit.
The Thorn Birds
Author: Colleen McCullough
A sweeping family saga set on an Australian sheep station across decades.
Set in the Australian Outback, this classic Australian novel tells the sweeping story of the Cleary family, spanning from 1915 to 1969.
Why you’ll love it
Epic, emotional, and deeply immersive.
Perfect for
Fans of long, dramatic family sagas.
I Am the Messenger
Author: Markus Zusak
A young cab driver unexpectedly becomes a messenger, tasked with completing mysterious missions.
This novel follows Ed, an underage cab driver with little future. His life is one of peaceful routine and incompetence until he inadvertently stops a bank robbery. Then he starts receiving mysterious messages in the mail and takes on a new role as the messenger.
Why you’ll love it
Heartfelt, mysterious, and quietly powerful.
Perfect for
Readers who enjoy uplifting literary fiction.
Stolen
Author: Lucy Christopher
A teenage girl is kidnapped and taken to the remote Australian Outback by her captor.
Written as a series of letters to her captor after she escapes, this book blurs the line between love, dependency, and obsession.
Why you’ll love it
Psychological, tense, and emotionally gripping.
Perfect for
Readers who enjoy dark YA fiction.
A Town Like Alice
Author: Nevil Shute
A romance unfolds between a British woman and an Australian soldier during WWII and beyond.
This novel follows a British woman and an Australian soldier whose lives briefly intersect during World War II. Years later, they reconnect in the Outback.
Why you’ll love it
Hopeful, emotional, and quietly romantic.
Perfect for
Readers who love wartime romance and resilience stories.
Big Little Lies
Author: Liane Moriarty
Three women in suburban Sydney hide secrets that slowly unravel through a shocking event.
Although the television show adaptation changed the location to California, the original bestselling novel Big Little Lies is set in Sydney, Australia. Following three women, each with their own secrets, this fast-paced thriller will have you on the edge of your seat the whole time.
Why you’ll love it
Fast-paced, addictive, and character-driven.
Perfect for
Fans of psychological thrillers and domestic suspense.
Boy Swallows Universe
Author: Trent Dalton
A boy growing up in 1980s Brisbane navigates violence, love, and survival.
Set in Brisbane in 1983, Boy Swallows Universe is about a boy living in the working-class slums surrounded by drugs and violence, just trying to be a good person despite everything going on around him. This is a heartbreaking yet joyous novel about true love and unlikely friendships.
Why you’ll love it
Emotional, raw, and beautifully written.
Perfect for
Readers who love powerful coming-of-age fiction.
The Dressmaker
Author: Rosalie Ham
A woman returns to her small hometown in rural Australia with a sharp sense of style and revenge.
After twenty years spent mastering the art of dressmaking at couture houses in Paris, Tilly Dunnage returns to the small Australian town she was banished from as a child. Her plan is to simply check in on her ailing mother and then leave, but she finds herself getting pulled back in.
Why you’ll love it
Darkly funny, dramatic, and stylish.
Perfect for
Readers who enjoy revenge stories with edge.
The Narrow Road to the Deep North
Author: Richard Flanagan
A powerful story of love, war, and survival in a WWII prisoner-of-war camp.
The novel tells the story of an Australian doctor haunted by memories of a love affair with his uncle’s wife and of his subsequent experiences as a Far East prisoner of war.
Why you’ll love it
Deeply emotional, poetic, and unforgettable
Perfect for
Readers who love literary war fiction.
The Rosie Project
Author: Graeme Simsion
A genetics professor designs a scientific approach to finding love, but life refuses to follow rules.
This romance novel follows acclaimed Australian genetics professor Don Tillman, who struggles to have serious relationships with women. With a friend’s help, he devises a questionnaire to assess the suitability of female partners in an attempt to find true love.
Why you’ll love it
Funny, romantic, and heartwarming.
Perfect for
Readers who enjoy quirky romantic comedies.
The Dry
Author: Jane Harper
A detective returns to his drought-stricken hometown to investigate a shocking murder.
If you are looking for a thriller set in Australia, be sure to pick this one up. In this atmospheric, page-turning tale, a detective returns to his small Australian hometown to investigate the murder of his best friend twenty years before and uncover the truth of what really happened.
Why you’ll love it
Atmospheric, tense, and gripping.
Perfect for
Fans of slow-burn crime thrillers.
The Van Apfel Girls Are Gone
Author: Felicity McLean
Three sisters vanish from a suburban Australian town, leaving behind unanswered questions.
This is another thriller set in Australia. Three sisters disappear from an Australian suburb one summer, leaving the entire town perplexed by what happened to them.
Why you’ll love it
Haunting, nostalgic, and unsettling.
Perfect for
Readers who love quiet literary mysteries.
How to Choose the Right Book
- For emotional literary fiction:
→ The Light Between Oceans, Cloudstreet, The Narrow Road to the Deep North - For thrillers:
→ The Dry, Big Little Lies, The Slap - For historical Australia:
→ The Secret River, True History of the Kelly Gang - For romance & lighter reads:
→ The Rosie Project, A Town Like Alice - For memoir & travel:
→ Tracks, In a Sunburned Country
Have you read any of these books set in Australia? Do you have any favorite books set in Australia that I should add to this list? Let me know in the comments below!
Continue Your Escape
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