If you love historical fiction about Australia... (novels, crime, drama)

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

I'm on a thriller fix right now, but I recently read The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman and loved it. It's a historical fiction novel about a guy who mans a lighthouse on a remote island off the coast of Australia. It's a bit melancholy, and is a bit of a drama (after he brings his new wife to live on the island with him), and gets a tad dark, too. But, it held my interest and I really enjoyed it.

[pinetreelover]

I was not a fan of this book overall because the main characters made such unrealistic and poor choices that seemed contrived just to add drama, but I was a fan of the setting of the book. The author wrote about the land and the island in a way that really made it seem like a place I could envision. Additionally, I learned a lot about light houses and the role of Australia in WWI.

So - not a favorite book by an means, but there were parts of it that I'm glad I encountered.

[Starman71]

Morgan's Run by Colleen McCollough is about the founding of the British colonies there in the late 18th century. A man falsely accused of a crime in England is sentenced to deportation. The novel is detailed on the legal system of the time, as well of the living conditions in the prisions, ships, and colonies. But it's also a Colleen McCollough novel, so there's romance as well.

One of favorite novels.

[stepka]

I loved Morgans Run but didn't read Stedmans book. My very most favorite hist fiction book about Oz though is Botany Bay by the same writers who wrote Mutiny on the Bounty.