I asked and you delivered. Here are your choices for the books that would give a visitor an insight into the social fabric of your Australia.
Sydney Suburbs:
Cronulla beach culture: Puberty Blues by Kathy Lette and Gabrielle Carey
Surry Hills before it was gentrified: The Harp in the South by Ruth Park
Western Suburbs: Ten Things I Hate about Me by Randa Abdel-Fattah (young fiction)
North Sydney, Lane Cove (plus Canberra & Malvern, Vic): Dead Set by Kel Robertson (crime fiction)
Eastern Suburbs, esp. Bondi: The Les Norton books by R G Barrett (popular fiction)
Early Urban Settlers plus a glimpse of boarding school in the Blue Mountains: Seven Little Australians by Ethel Turner (written 1894)
Melbourne Suburbs:
Bayside: Sunnyside by Joanna Murray-Smith
Northern: The Murrary Whelan Novels by Shane Maloney (crime fiction)
St Kilda Road, Inner City in the 1920s: The Phryne Fisher Novels by Kerry Greenwood
Brunswick Street in the 90s: The Crocodile Club by Kaz Cooke
Suburban share house (poss. set Carlton, Fitzroy? Williamstown?) 1960s/70s: Monkey Grip by Helen Garner
Acland St, St Kilda: Cafe Sheherazade by Arnold Zable
St Kilda and the seedier side of life: Candy by Luke Davies
Williamstown & Kensington: The Watcher on the Cast Iron Balcony by Hal Porter
Suburban professionals: Seven Types of Ambiguity by Elliot Perlman, Three Dollars by Elliot Perlman
Perth:
1950s suburbia: The Shark Net by Robert Drewe
1960s suburbia: Cloudstreet by Tim Winton
The 'iron ore state' from 1950s-1990s: Floodtide by Judy Nunn
Central and Remote Australia:
Malaya, Alice Springs, Burketown Qld: A Town Like Alice by Nevile Shute (set late 1940s)
An epic of Aboriginal Australia in the Gulf Country: Carpentaria by Alexis Wright
Other Rural Australia:
Rural WA (Narrogin): A Fortunate Life by Albert Facey (memoir set around late WWI)
Rural WA (Albany? Lancelin?): Dirt Music by Tim Winton
Goulburn, NSW: My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin (1901)
Mt Macedon area, Victoria: Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay (early 1900s)
Beachside country towns near Melbourne: The Broken Shore by Peter Temple
Queensland:
Apart from Carpentaria above, the recommendations we have are to listen to Jimmy Barnes and Shannon Noll (for Townsville) and to watch Muriel's Wedding. Oh man, did I have to type that?
Although there was also a suggestion to read the Nick Earls novels for a taste of 1980s Brisbane.
One International Entry:
Melinda suggests that Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns gives an insight into small town Georgia.
Thanks for your entries! If you have thought of any more books that give an insight into your local social fabric let me know.
9 comments:
This is a fantastic list M.
Now I am going to have to re - read Seven Little Australians - which I have thankfully - because I do not remember the Blue Mountains stuff..
I think Dirt Music is more a fictitious Lancelin than an Albany, but I could be wrong.
Nick Earls books - Bachelor Kisses, Zigzag Street, World of Chickens, Perfect Skin are definites for 1980s Brisbane.
Great list! A few more to add for Melbourne: Three Dollars (Elliot Perlman)Cafe Scheherazade (Arnold Zable) and Candy (Luke Davies)
Another Melbourne: Hal Porter's 'The Watcher on the Cast Iron Balcony', which is set in Williamstown and Kensington (the cast iron balcony of the title is on a tiny weatherboard cottage that's still there, at no. 90-something Bellair St Kensington. Have you ever read Helen's blog 'Blogger on the Cast Iron Balcony'?)
Also, I think Helen Garner was Carlton/Fitzroy not Williamstown but am happy to be corrected on that. Sorry I didn't get this in when you originally asked. I thought and thought all day long as I went about my business and was dying to come back here and see what everyone else said. Great list to keep for the future!
Nick Earls for Brisbane!! Go read him, he is hilarious. Monkey Grip is most definitely Collingwood/Carlton/ Fitzroy. Phryne Fisher lives on St Kilda Road but covers a lot of the inner city surrounds.
Pedantic!?!? Moi?
how I love pubert blues...anyone for a chicco roll?
Wow, thanks for all the extra suggestions! Will add them to the list. Accidentally left off Stacey's recommendation of Cafe Sheherazade for Acland St. Will add in.
The reason I thought Monkey Grip was in Williamstown was because I heard Helen Garner speak about her life in a share house there being the inspiration for the book. But of course she prob. didn't actually set it there. Carlton/Fitz sounds much more likely.
The list makes Townsville all the sadder...
I'm going to pick a few to troll for on Amazon! I enjoy reading about different cultures. Amazing how unique each locale is, even when they are geographically close together.
ooh, I missed this ( always late to the party ! ).
I like "Loaded" for the inner north suburb visualisations ( it was made into the movie "Head On" with Alex Dimitriades )
Helen Garner is also good though.
I also like "The Children's Bach" for the same.
Thanks for this - was really really interesting to read.
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