Popular Oceanian Historical Fiction Books
Find historical fiction books written by authors from Oceania for the next part of the Read Around The World Challenge. (41)
21.
AustraliaDescription:
"Here is the world-famous novel of Japan that is the earliest book in James Clavell's masterly Asian saga. Set in the year 1600, it tells the story of a bold English pilot whose ship was blown ashore in Japan, where he encountered two people who were to change his life: a warlord with his own quest for power, and a beautiful interpreter torn between two ways of life and two ways of love"--Provided by publisher.
22.
Sisters Under the Rising Sun : A Novel by Heather Morris EN
Country: Oceania / 
New Zealand
New Zealand
Description:
The phenomenal new novel, based on a true story, from the multimillion-copy bestselling author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, Cilka's Journey and Three Sisters. 1942. Singapore is falling to the Japanese Army. English musician Norah Chambers places her eight-year-old daughter Sally on a ship leaving Singapore, desperate to keep her safe. As the island burns, Australian nurse Nesta James joins the terrified cargo of people, including the heartbroken Norah, crammed aboard the HMS Vyner Brooke. After only two days at sea, the ship is bombarded and sunk. Nesta and Norah reach the beaches of Indone... continue
23.
Sleeps Standing by Witi Ihimaera, Hēmi Kelly EN
Country: Oceania / New Zealand
New Zealand
Description:
Both fiction and fact, this fascinating book is a kaleidoscopic exploration of the Battle of Orakau. During three days in 1864, 300 Maori men, women and children fought an Imperial army and captured the imagination of the world. The battle marked the end of the Land Wars in the Waikato and resulted in vast tracts of land being confiscated for European settlement. Instead of following the usual standpoint of the victors, this book takes a Maori perspective. It is centred around Witi Ihimaera's moving novella, Sleeps Standing, which views the battle through the eyes of a 16-year-old boy named Mo... continue
24.
That Deadman Dance by Kim Scott EN
Description:
Bobby Wabalanginy never learned fear, not until he was pretty well a grown man. Sure, he grew up doing the Dead Man Dance, but with him it was a dance of life, a lively dance for people to do together... Told through the eyes of black and white, young and old, this is a story about a fledgling Western Australian community in the early 1800s known as the 'friendly frontier'.Poetic, warm-hearted and bold, it is a story which shows that first contact did not have to lead to war.It is a story for our times.
25.
The Art of Taxidermy by Sharon Kernot EN
Description:
• Shortlisted for the 2017 Text Prize, The Art of Taxidermy is a lyrical YA verse novel exploring love and grief and the strange and wonderful art of taxidermy • Lottie, the daughter of German migrants, develops a fascination for death after losing her mother at a young age. When Lottie begins collecting dead animals, her aunt tries to redirect her energies into more 'feminine' activities, but her father encourages her interest believing she has a scientist's curiosity • A novel that explores ideas of beauty and art, and of finding comfort in unexpected places • For fans of Steven Herrick, The... continue
26.
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak EN
Description:
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • ONE OF TIME MAGAZINE’S 100 BEST YA BOOKS OF ALL TIME The extraordinary, beloved novel about the ability of books to feed the soul even in the darkest of times. When Death has a story to tell, you listen. It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still. Liesel Meminger is a foster girl living outside of Munich, who scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to rea... continue
Papua New Guinea28.
The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton EN
Description:
"A foundling, an old book of dark fairy tales, a secret garden, an aristocratic family, a love denied, a mystery. A captivating, atmospheric and compulsively readable story of the past, secrets, family and memory. Cassandra is lost, alone and grieving. Her much loved grandmother, Nell, has just died and Cassandra, her life already shaken by a tragic accident ten years ago, feels like she has lost everything dear to her. But an unexpected and mysterious bequest from Nell turns Cassandra's life upside down and ends up challenging everything she thought she knew about herself and her family. Inhe... continue
29.
The Good People by Hannah Kent EN
Description:
County Kerry, Ireland, 1825. Nóra, bereft after the sudden death of her beloved husband, finds herself alone and caring for her young grandson Micheál. Micheál cannot speak and cannot walk and Nóra is desperate to know what is wrong with him. What happened to the healthy, happy grandson she met when her daughter was still alive? Mary arrives in the valley to help Nóra just as the whispers are spreading: the stories of unexplained misfortunes, of illnesses, and the rumours that Micheál is a changeling child who is bringing bad luck to the valley
30.
The Imaginary Lives of James Poneke by Tina Makereti EN
Country: Oceania / New Zealand
New Zealand
Description:
"The hour is late. The candle is low. Tomorrow I will see whether it is my friends or a ship homewards I meet. But I must finish my story for you first. My future, my descendant, my mokopuna. Listen. So begins the tale of James Poneke: orphaned son of a chief; ardent student of English; wide-eyed survivor. All the worlds a stage, especially when youre a living exhibit. But anything can happen to a young New Zealander on the savage streets of Victorian London. When James meets the man with laughing dark eyes and the woman who dresses as a man, he begins to discover who people really are beneath... continue