The Mary Smokes Boys by Patrick Holland – BRISBANE, QUEENSLAND
Novel set in the first half of the 20th Century HUNGARY
Ten Great Books Set in QUEENSLAND
14th July 2026
Ten great books set in Queensland.
Queensland, Australia’s Sunshine State, is the country’s second-largest state by area and a premier destination known for its diverse landscapes and tropical climate. Stretching along the northeastern coast, it offers everything from the iconic, World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef to ancient, lush rainforests and vast, arid outback regions.
The capital, Brisbane, serves as the state’s thriving economic and cultural hub, while major coastal cities like the Gold Coast and Cairns attract millions of visitors. Beyond its natural wonders, Queensland boasts a vibrant, outdoor-oriented lifestyle, a rich Indigenous heritage, and a robust economy driven by tourism, agriculture, and mining.
Here are ten of our favourite books set in the state.
The Shelly Bay Ladies Swimming Circle by Sophie Green – THE GOLD COAST
In a seaside suburb on Australia’s golden coast, four women head to the water to swim every day . . .
Housewife Theresa wants to get fit; she also wants a few precious minutes to herself. So at sunrise each day she strikes out past the waves.
From the same beach, the widowed Marie swims. With her husband gone, it is the one constant in her new life.
Elaine takes to the sea having recently moved from England, while Leanne is twenty-five years old and only has herself to rely on.
In the waters of Shelly Bay, these four women find each other. They will survive bluebottle stings and heartbreak, they will laugh so hard they swallow water, and they will plunge their tears into the ocean’s salt.
Most of all, they will cherish their newfound friendship, each and every day.
Those Hamilton Sisters by Averil Kenny – QUEENSLAND
A warm, captivating and irresistible story of love, family, secrets and finding your place in the world. For readers of Lucinda Riley and Kate Morton.
The Sunday train which snaked into Noah Vale that verdant, midwinter afternoon brought with it fire, sending an inferno of small-town gossip roaring up the valley . . .
Esther Hamilton had a reputation in the small Queensland town of Noah Vale. That was until she ran away, twenty years ago, under a cloud of shame. It is now 1955 and following her death, her daughters, the Hamilton sisters, have come to make the town their home.
Sonnet, at twenty years old, has never set foot in Noah Vale, but has been the talk of the town for decades. Fable is a budding artist and lovelier even than her heartbreaking mother. And Plum is just a little girl who has been taken away from the only home she has ever known.
As the years pass the girls settle into their new life. But suspicion and judgement follow them wherever they go. In a small town where everyone knows each other, it can be hard to escape the past . . .
Under The Golden Sun by Jenny Ashcroft – QUEENSLAND
Wanted: companion to escort a young, orphaned child home to Australia.
All expenses as well as passage covered.
Interested parties to apply without delay to 32 Williams Street, Belgravia.
London, 1941. There are so many reasons Rose Hamilton she should ignore the advertisement: the war, those treacherous seas, her family, her fiancé… but she cannot help herself. Within weeks, she is boarding an enormous convoy, already too attached to five-year-old Walter Lucknow.
But rural Queensland, and the big house with the rolling hills where Walter was born, is not as either of them were told to expect. Rose cannot leave this little boy until he is happy and settled, and she knows the key to this is Walter’s wounded fighter pilot uncle Max.
But how will she ever part with Walter? And what if he isn’t the only reason she wants to stay?
An Afterlife for Rosemary Lamb by Louise Wolhuter – QUEENSLAND
Jessie Else disappeared the summer the Lambs came to Magpie Beach. Not that the two events were connected at all, in reality; only in my own head, in my own world. They marked for me the end of a certain quiet time and the start of a more complicated living.
Magpie Beach is a quiet seaside town – full of small-town prejudices and small-town cliques. Meg, Rosemary and Lily are all outsiders. Meg and Lily because they came to Magpie Beach to escape their former lives, Rosemary because her upbringing was the subject of much local gossip and upturned noses. The three women come together as friends, partly because their homes are so close together on the outskirts of town – and partly because their neighbours treat them with such suspicion.
When Jessie Else, all of 9 years old, goes missing – it’s easy to see why this small band of outcasts are first on the list of suspects – but what they didn’t realise is that Jessie’s disappearance is only the beginning of their troubles. Soon all those secrets they’ve been trying to hide are going to be uncovered – and nothing will ever be the same again.
The Reef by Di Morrissey – GREAT BARRIER REEF
Beneath the calm aqua waters of the Great Barrier Reef, there is an ongoing war for survival. It is a war among the creatures, the life forms and the coral that make up the reef. It is so threatened it could disappear within 30 years. Above the reef on a small coral cay, two communities come together in an uneasy alliance: a tourist resort and a scientific research station. Ambitious Blair Towse is appointed assistant manager of the resort with his wife, Jennifer, who finds herself isolated, lonely and forced to confront her childhood fear of the sea. On the surface, the island is all you could wish for: a lush resort, a naturalist’s dream, a diver’s delight. But Jennifer begins to discover the island holds secrets and dangers.
Cassandra by Kathryn Gossow – QUEENSLAND
Is the future set like concrete, or a piece of clay we can mould and change?
On a remote farm in Queensland, Cassie Shultz feels useless. Her perfect brother Alex has an uncanny ability to predict the weather, and the fortunes of the entire family hinge upon his forecasts. However, her own gift for prophecy remains frustratingly obscure. Attempts to help her family usually result in failure.
After meeting with her new genius neighbour Athena, Cassie thinks she has unlocked the secret of her powers. But as her visions grow more vivid, she learns that the cost of honing her gift may be her sanity.
With her family breaking apart, the future hurtles towards Cassie faster than she can comprehend it.
The Dirty Beat by Venero Armanno – BRISBANE
Rock and jazz drummer Max is dead. Now, in his coffin as his friends prepare to bury him, Max is surrounded by the ghosts of his life and the dreams that never faded. All the old music is back too – from raw seventies rock-and-roll to the type of cool jazz that made legends of John Coltrane and Miles Davis. In this sea of memory, Max recalls the tragedies, people and relationships that defined his life. From his first love Maree Kilmister he learned about sex: from his great love Debbie Canova he learned about loss: and from the enigmatic Laetecia Sparks he learned about hope. As the players in his life gather for his funeral, he has one last chance to relive his past and see it for what it was. Driven by music and passion, The Dirty Beat shimmers with an electric intensity.
The Mary Smokes Boys by Patrick Holland – BRISBANE, QUEENSLAND
Grey’s mother dies giving birth to his sister Irene and he prays that she will be returned to him so he might protect her from the world as his father did not. This prayer, Grey believes, is answered in his sister Irene. He becomes obsessed with protecting her purity and innocence while befriending the wild boys of the small town of Mary Smokes — horse-handlers and fox hunters and part-time timber workers — members of a small, vanishing tribe who find themselves caught between an old relationship with place and a new one that is exemplified by the highway that threatens their town. Holland’s kinship with Per Petterson’s Out Stealing Horses is palpable. The Mary Smokes Boys is heart-rending and unforgettable, a suspenseful story of horse thieves and broken promises, of love and tragedy, of the fragility and grace of small town life, and how one fateful moment can forever alter the course of a life.
Coal Creek by Alex Miller – QUEENSLAND
Bobby Blue is caught between loyalty to his only friend, Ben Tobin, and his boss, Daniel Collins, the new Constable at Mount Hay. ‘Ben was not a big man but he was strong and quick as a snake. He had his own breed of pony that was just like him, stocky and reliable on their feet.’ Bobby understands the people and the ways of Mount Hay: Collins studies the country as an archaeologist might, bringing his coastal values to the hinterland. Bobby says, ‘I do not think Daniel would have understood Ben in a million years.’ Increasingly bewildered and goaded to action by his wife, Constable Collins takes up his shotgun and his Webley pistol to deal with Ben. Bobby’s love for Collins’ wilful young daughter Irie is exposed, leading to tragic consequences for them all.
Master of Maramba by Margaret Way – QUEENSLAND
Needing a bolt-hole where she can lick her wounds after a car accident has destroyed her budding career, Catrina Russell jumps at the chance of a job as governess on a North Queensland cattle station.
Carrie wouldn’t have been Royce McQuillan’s first choice, but there’s no denying the empathy between her and his young daughter. His own feelings are more difficult to fathom. Having lost his social butterfly wife to the bright city lights, how long can he expect the beautiful Carrie to remain contented living an isolated life with the master of Maramba?
Enjoy our selection of Books set in Queensland. Any of your favourites we’ve missed please ad in Comments below…
Tony for the TripFiction Team
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