How to Be Australian

Second Hand

Excellent Condition

Canadian Ashley convinces her career-oriented boyfriend Steve to relocate to sunny, carefree, no-worries Australia for a year.

An anxious dreamer who has spent her twenties working abroad and travelling solo,  Ashley longs to bathe in the national characteristics of her chosen new home and feel the way Australians do.

Newly married, the couple move to Sydney. Steve struggles to find work and Ashley fears he will come to regret both the move and the marriage. But when Steve lands a great job, he shockingly announces he wants to stay in Australia, making Ashley realise how out of place she feels.

To make things work with Steve and try to achieve her vision of happiness, Ashley resolves to discover an Australia that's meaningful for her, to travel the country widely, learn its history, and make Australian friends, all while conquering her growing anxiety. On this quest, Ashley comes to love her new home, despite its political challenges and identity issues. And then Steve decides he wants to go back to Canada, after all! Can learning how to be Australian teach Ashley about herself and save her marriage?

HOW TO BE AUSTRALIAN is a remarkable memoir, at once familiar and faraway, that will appeal to all Australian readers who themselves sometimes grapple with what it means to be Australian.