Themed Read November 2022: Australia and New Zealand - Authors and Settings

Welcome to our November 2022 Themed Read.

This thread is going up a little early to give everyone who wants to join in the chance to have their books lined up and ready to read.

Our theme this month is READ A BOOK BY AN AUTHOR FROM AUSTRALIA OR NEW ZEALAND, OR A BOOK SET IN ONE OF THOSE COUNTRIES

Here is a list of possibilities:

The Three Miss Kings by Ada Cambridge (#244)

Painted Clay by Capel Boake (#231)

The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough (#530)

Letty Fox: Her Luck by Christina Stead (#4)
For Love Alone by Christina Stead (#5)
Cotters’ England by Christina Stead (#37)
A Little Tea, a Little Chat by Christina Stead (#59)
The People with the Dogs by Christina Stead (#60)
The Beauties and the Furies by Christina Stead (#86)
Miss Herbert by Christina Stead (#97)
The Puzzleheaded Girl by Christina Stead (#161)
The Salzburg Tales by Christina Stead (#229)

The Overlanders by Dora Birtles (#271)

Bobbin Up by Dorothy Hewett (#172)

The Little Company by Eleanor Dark (#191)
Lantana Lane by Eleanor Dark (#212)

The Sugar Mother by Elizabeth Jolley (#469)
The Newspaper from Claremont Street by Elizabeth Jolley (#470)

The Rock Cried Out by Ellen Douglas (#351
)
Blue Skies & Jack and Jill by Helen Hodgman (#309)

The Getting of Wisdom by Henry Handel Richardson (#48)
Maurice Guest by Henry Handel Richardson (#49)

Cindie by Jean Devanny (#230)

An Angel at My Table by Janet Frame (#533)
Living in the Maniototo by Janet Frame (#545)
The Daylight and the Dust:Selected Short Stories by Janet Frame (#552)

Borderline by Janette Turner Hospital (#335)
The Last Magician by Janette Turner Hospital (#427)

The Aloe by Katherine Mansfield (#174)

The Roaring Nineties by Katharine Susannah Prichard (#120)
Golden Miles by Katharine Susannah Prichard (#150)
Winged Seeds by Katharine Susannah Prichard (#151)

The Persimmon Tree by Marjorie Barnard (#190)

At the Still Point by Mary Benson (#280)
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by M. Barnard Eldershaw (#119)

My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin (#35)
My Career Goes Bung by Miles Franklin (#52)
Some Everyday Folk and Dawn by Miles Franklin (#211)

Spinster by Sylvia Ashton-Warner (#40)

The Transit of Venus by Shirley Hazzard (#405)
The Bay of Noon by Shirley Hazzard (#448)"

Our emphasis is on Virago Modern Classics but you are welcome to read any other book in keeping with the theme and the Virago ethos this month.

What will you be reading?

Oof, I have four AU books to read for AusReading Month, but none of them are Viragoes. I've read a few of this list, though, so I'll look out for people's thoughts with interest.

Thanks Jane - I shall have a look in the stacks and see what I have!

I have both The Little Company by Eleanor Dark (born Australia) and Cindie by Jean Devanny (born NZ) on the shelves. It will be one of those.

I also have a collection of Katherine Mansfield short stories by another publisher, but I will probably keep those for next year.

I will most likely read The Getting of Wisdom by Henry Handel Richardson, although I have some other options as well.

I plan to read My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin

I will start with Painted clay.

An interesting list, several authors that I didn't know were from Australia or New Zealand.

I finished Painted clay and enjoyed it a lot. A coming-of-age story that vividly depicts the limited options available for women in pre-WWI Australia. It went in an unexpected direction when Helen's relationship doesn't work out because she is ambivalent, not, as I had expected, because the man gets bored of her which was unusual.

I may read Blue skies & Jack and Jill next.

I read The Getting of Wisdom by Henry Handel Richardson. It's a fascinating look at a Melbourne girls' boarding school in the 1880s, where protagonist Laura learns how to get by, rather than gets wisdom.