As Australia began the process of breaking away from its from status a British colony, Catherine Martin was fascinated with the meaning of Australian culture and identity. She examines these issues through the story of the independent and intelligent Stella Courtland, a young girt who marries and finds herself hampered by the social constraints of her new life. In this sensitive Late of moral and emotional growth, Martin brilliantly captures this turning point in Australian history and anticipates the values of a new generation.

Incisive readings of popular late 19th and early 20th century settler adventure romance unmask a deep-seated anxiety about the stability of concepts of whiteness and femininity in colonial Australia. It considers in detail Miles Franklin's My Brilliant Career and Catherine Martin's An Australian Girl.

In Louise Mack's An Australian Girl in London, Sylvia Leighton embarks on an increasingly familiar narrative in turn-of-the-century Australian fiction, travelling to England to establish herself in a country she has long dreamed of visiting. Mack's novel describes Sylvia's ambitions and expectations and tracks their complicated fates as they try to settle in London.

It's 1983 in Sunshine, Melbourne, and funny, quick-thinking Marly is just trying to fit in. But being a 10-year-old boat refugee from Saigon doesn't make things easy. Especially when your cousins come to stay - permanently! Marly tries to teach them Australian ways, but as her school friends start making fun of her too, she is torn between her loyalties to her cousins and sticking up for what she knows is right, and wanting to fit in. To make matters worse, Marly discovers she has accidentally named herself after one of Michael Jackson's brothers ...

Reproduction of the original: An Australian Girl by Mrs. Alick Macleod

It's 1808 and Grace is living with her uncle in London. They have no money, and Grace is always lonely and often hungry. The best part of her day is going to Fleet Street to talk to the horses that she loves so much. One afternoon Grace can't resist taking a shiny red apple from a grocer's cart - and then another.

Shout-outs to 50 awesome Australian women with easy-to-read biographies of their incredible achievements. From Cathy Freeman to Turia Pitt, Edith Cowan to Julia Gillard, Mum Shirl to Vali Myers, plus rally car drivers, molecular biologists and more, this book is a celebration of women in all fields, from all walks of life, and from Australia's past and present.