Books that Made Us: The Companion to the ABC TV Series

Carl Reinecke

Feb 2022 · Bolinda · Narrated by Claudia Karvan

About this audiobook

Capturing everyday lives and exceptional dreams, novels have held up a mirror to the nation, reflecting the good and the bad. Touching on colonial invasion, the bush myth, world wars, mass migration, the recognition of Indigenous sovereignty and the emergence of a modern, global, multicultural nation, Carl examines how these pivotal events and persuasive ideas have shaped some of Australia’s most influential novels, and how these books, in turn, made us. In a panoramic account of Australian fiction stretching from Marcus Clarke to Melissa Lucashenko, Patrick White to Peter Carey, and Henry Handel Richardson to Michelle de Kretser, this is a new history of key authors and compelling books that have kept us reading and made a difference for over 200 years.

About the author

Carl Reinecke has worked as an associate producer on a number of television series and films in Australia and abroad. He wrote about the history of Donald Horne's The Lucky Country in Meanjin, and his other articles have been published in Inside Story, Griffith Review and the Sydney Morning Herald.

Claudia Karvan is one of Australia’s most recognised actresses having achieved success and critical acclaim for her work in film and television. Claudia is best known for her roles in the television series The Secret Life Of Us, Newton’s Law, Love My Way and Puberty Blues. She first appeared in the film High Tide with Judy Davis and the comedy The Big Steal as well as Paperback Hero with Hugh Jackman and Dating the Enemy opposite Guy Pearce.