I am a Canberra-based author, writing historical fiction, fiction that is built around real events and real issues from Australia’s past. I have now published three novels, with a fourth to be published late this year.
My first novel, Boss, published in 2018, is broadly based on the diaries of Minnie Hunter, the daughter of the original lessee of the Kalangadoo Pastoral Station, established in the mid-nineteenth century. Minnie’s story provides a unique perspective into the lives of the pioneers of that time, and apart from its historical interest, is a wonderful story in its own right.
My second book, Taken In, published in 2019, is set in ‘Marvellous’ Melbourne in the 1890s, and is a murder/mystery, with its main theme the issue of illegal fostering of babies and young children, the ‘baby-farming’ scandal as it was known.
My third novel, Death in Black and White, published in 2022, is a sequel to Taken In and is again set in Melbourne in the late 1890s. It explores the early days of Australian rules football. Death in Black and White was shortlisted for the 2023 Marion Notable Books Award.
A further sequel, Fresh Air and Foul Play, set in Sorrento, Victoria, has just been published and is now available for purchase. Fresh Air and Foul Play was launched at the Street Theatre in Canberra on 19th February 2025. Katy Mutton, CEO of MARION, the organisation representing writers in the ACT, launched the novel and joined me in a discussion of my writing.
Some comments about Fresh Air and Foul Play:
‘Simon Bryant has spent his retirement researching days long gone and turning that research into gripping murder mysteries based on real events and characters.’ – Chris Johnson (The RiotAct)
‘SG Bryant writes with an assured ease, conjuring up characters in whom we become instantly interested and a story that both entertains and intrigues.’ – Barbie Robinson (Living Arts Canberra)
S G Bryant 