Books like Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey

In seventeenth‑century Scotland, a moderate Presbyterian minister navigates religious conflict, civil war, and supernatural forces in a remote forest, wrestling with black magic and pre‑Christian nature worship amid plague and political turmoil.

Peter Carey’s award‑winning biography of Ned Kelly chronicles the life of Australia’s most infamous bushranger, exploring his complex legacy as an outlaw, reformer, and folk hero.

A 19th‑century tale of poverty, family, and the perils of a fraudulent antique dealer, centered on the young orphan Nell and her loyal grandfather.

In Tim Winton’s sweeping Australian novel, the Lamb and Pickle families, both scarred by tragedy, become intertwined in a sprawling house that serves as a microcosm of working‑class life.

In 1650s England, a Puritan maiden risks her future to protect a preacher’s orphaned child, drawing her into a perilous web of religious politics.

A satirical look at the domestic and clerical life of 18th‑century England, following the antics of the Vicar of Wakefield and his family.

A newly ordained priest sails to Greenland in 1787 to evangelise the Inuit, but he finds himself entangled in a community of dissenters, a starving trader’s wife, and a fatalistic widow, all of whom test his faith.

Nicholas Carey a young Captain in the British Army, professes to love only the comforts of good living, but somehow he gets involved in one dangerous escapade after another. His cousin Andrew pulls him into the affair of the Italian revolutionists and Nicholas saves Napoleon III from being assassinated.

*"Although this is Australian author Tsiolkas’ fourth novel, it is the first to be published in the U.S. With its raw style, liberal use of profanity and racial epithets, and laserlike focus on the travails of suburban life, it is a down-and-dirty version of Tom Perrotta’s best-selling Little Children (2004). At a barbecue in a Melbourne suburb, a man loses his temper and slaps the child of the host’s friends. This incident unleashes a slew of divisive opinions, pitting friends and families against each other as the child’s parents take the man to court. Told from eight different viewpoints, the novel also deftly fills in disparate backstories encompassing young and old, single and married, gay and straight, as well as depicting how multiculturalism is increasingly impacting the traditional Aussie ethos. For good measure, the author also throws in male vanity, infidelity, and homophobia. Tsiolkas’ in-your-face style is sure to alienate some readers—the child’s parents, for example, are among the book’s most unlikable characters—but his novel, which won the 2009 Commonwealth Prize, fairly radiates with vitality as it depicts the messy complications of family life."* -- Joanne Wilkinson, Booklist

When a young priest refuses his destined ministry, he is drawn into a deadly spy game by a powerful British noble, forces him to infiltrate a sect of religious separatists and uncover the leader’s hidden truth.

Peter Carey's fast‐moving, humorous thriller follows a man who, after recovering from death, believes he is trapped in hell.

A London waterman sentenced to New South Wales faces the ultimate decision when he is transported as a convict, forcing him to confront themes of love, identity and belonging in the harsh early colonial landscape.

In the land of Marotiri, Sureya, a humble servant girl, discovers she is the long‑awaited Supplicant as a second sun rises. Guided by King Kalief, she learns surrender while facing the looming threat of dark forces.

A Victorian-era mystery novel set against the backdrop of World War I, where the arrival of a new servant triggers a series of events leading to murder and the discovery of historical letters.