Coogee reading list
From the shark murder mystery to the ladies-only ocean pool, Coogee has inspired some remarkable books. Here is my personal reading list for visitors. (3 min read)
There are many good books about Australia and Sydney but few focused only on Coogee.
Most visitors find it helpful to prepare for their holiday by reading at least one book about Indigenous culture and a book or two about Sydney or Coogee.
The most highly recommended books from my personal library are:
“Welcome to Country: A travel guide to Indigenous Australia” (2018) by Marcia Langton. Professor Langton offers fascinating insights into Indigenous languages and customs, history, native title, art and dance, story telling and cultural awareness and etiquette for visitors. It includes a directory of Indigenous tourism experiences. (ISBN 9781741175431)
“Aboriginal Sydney: A guide to important places of the past and the present” (2015) by Melinda Hinkson. This is considered the authoritative guidebook of Aboriginal sites in Sydney, providing context, description and practical information about each site. While there are no sites in Coogee mentioned, there are several in nearby La Perouse. (ISBN 9780855757120)
“Dark Emu: Aboriginal Australia and the birth of agriculture” (2014) by Bruce Pascoe is, in the words of Marcia Langton, “a profound challenge to conventional thinking about Aboriginal life on this continent”. Pascoe shows that Aboriginal societies were not, as had been believed, simple hunter gatherer economies but sophisticated, with farming and irrigation practices. This book is what Australians would call a BBQ stopper – in upturning the conventional wisdom it generated a lot of debate and hand wringing on the conservative side of politics. (ISBN 9781921248016)
“Sydney” (1999) by Geoffrey Moorhouse. While there are good books about Sydney by Australians such as Delia Falconer and Peter Carey, Moorhouse demonstrates you do not need to be a local to tell great stories about a place. There is no doubt things have changed since he wrote this book but that does not detract from it. (ISBN 9780297815969)
“Swimming Sydney: A tale of 52 swims” by Chris Baker (2024) is my favourite book on this list. Baker’s favourite swimming spot is Wylie’s Baths at Coogee and his book devotes a chapter to it. There are also chapters about two other Coogee ocean pools and several others within walking distance of Coogee. This book is no mere directory of swimming places, each chapter offers context and deep sharing. (ISBN 9781761170720)
“Walking Sydney: Fifteen walks with a city’s writers” (2025) by Belinda Castles. There is a chapter in this book called “Feel each part of your foot on the ground” which comes from Beth Yahp’s memoir “Eat First, Talk Later”. Yahp lived in Clovelly and the author describes their conversation retracing familiar ground in Clovelly, Bronte and Waverly. The conversation is full of interesting observations and anecdotes, including mindfulness during walking. (ISBN 9781742239730)
“The Women’s Pool” (2021) edited by Lynne Spender is an anthology of 23 accounts of Coogee’s McIver’s Ladies Baths – Australia’s only ocean pool reserved for women. This is social history at its finest and demonstrates why this place is so important. (ISBN 9781925950458)
“Shark Arm” (2020) by Phillip Roope and Kevin Meagher is the true story of a shark that was caught off Coogee Beach, the tattooed arm it vomited up and two unsolved murders. While others have written about the 1935 incident, the authors forensically digest the entire police file and offer new insights. (ISBN 9781761471759)
“Beyond the Break” (2006) by renowned local film reviewer Sandra Hall provides a wonderful insight into Coogee in the 1950’s and the 1980’s. While Coogee provides important context, it is a page-turner about female friendship, getting older and reconciling with the past. (ISBN 9780732282424)
“The Mermaid Cafe” (2004) by Andrew Maconachie is a novel inspired by the iconic but run-down boarding house opposite the Coogee Surf Life Saving Club. Every visitor to Coogee walks by this building and most of us are curious about what goes on inside. That’s enough of a hook to give it a read. Most people find this book funny and insightful. (ISBN 9780733618949)
“Sydney Beaches: A history” (2014) by Caroline Ford tells the story of how Sydneysiders developed their love of the beach, from 19th century picnickers to the surfing and sun-baking pioneers a century later. But Sydney’s beaches have another history, one that is lesser known and more intriguing. Our world-famous beach culture only exists because the first beachgoers demanded important rights. This book is also the story of these battles for the beach. (ISBN 9781742232898)
“Sun, Sea, Surf and Sand – The Myth of the Beach” (1985) by Geoffrey Dutton. Australians live with their beaches, they don’t just go to them on holidays. The tradition of the beach is as strong as those of the bush and the ANZACs. This book, illustrated by some of Australia’s finest artists and writers, explains what has quietly become the dominant tradition in Australian life – the beach. While not yet understood or accepted in intellectual terms, the tradition is instinctively endorsed by the vast majority of Australians. Australians are the only people who live with their beaches all the time, even in winter. With over 100 images of the beach by Australian artists, including five paintings of Coogee, it is fascinating to see how artists have interpreted and responded to it.
You might also like:
→ Aussie music for the walk from Coogee to Bondi
→ How would you describe Australia to a foreigner?
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