Cloudstreet Named Australia's Favourite Book

Tim Winton's iconic novel Cloudstreet has taken the top spot in a recent poll of Australia's favourite books. The novel, which has been a staple of Australian literature for decades, has been adapted for radio, theatre, opera, and television, and has never been out of print.

When Winton wrote the final lines of Cloudstreet, he had no idea how successful the book would be. He was on the Greek island of Hydra, wrapping up a European residency that had taken him and his growing family to Paris and rural Ireland. In 1988, his wife, Denise, became pregnant with their second child, and they decided to return home to Western Australia, where Winton grew veggies, fished, and knuckled down to edit his manuscript.

By the time it was due to go to print in 1991, the outlook was not great. "We were publishing it into a hideous recession," Winton says. "Interest rates were at 17.5 per cent. The economy was just really struggling. People were doing it hard. We were broke ourselves."

Despite the dire economic circumstances, Cloudstreet was an instant hit. "Within a week, it was just doing mad things," Winton says. "That was the book that saved us."

Thirty-five years on, Cloudstreet has been translated into many languages and continues to captivate readers. Winton says he still receives mail from fans, and attributes the book's enduring appeal to its celebration of the white working class. "It's been translated into so many languages," Winton says. "I still get mail. It's an odd phenomenon that I just can't account for."

Winton's readers are not alone in their appreciation for Cloudstreet. The novel has been recognised as a classic of Australian literature, and has won numerous awards, including the Miles Franklin Literary Award. Winton says he believes the book's success can be attributed to its honest portrayal of working-class life. "Cloudstreet is, in its way, an unapologetic celebration of the white working class, with all its follies and vices and blind spots," he writes.

The novel follows the fortunes of two families — the Lambs and the Pickles — over two decades in mid-20th-century Perth. Winton drew on his own experiences growing up in a family of storytellers and larger-than-life characters. "All that tale-­spinning around the table … embedded itself in my memory," he writes.

Winton's grandparents played a significant role in shaping his writing style. He remembers being transfixed by their voices, which were so different from his own. "They sounded like they were from a different world," he says. "I was a child of the space age, and my grandparents were people from the horse and cart era. They sounded like people in a Chips Rafferty movie."

The character of Oriel Lamb is modelled on Winton's paternal grandmother, Olive. Winton says his grandmother was a tiny but impressive person who had a tough life. "She was tiny, but a very impressive person," Winton says. "She'd had a really tough life."

Winton hopes that Cloudstreet will continue to be celebrated for generations to come. He believes that the novel's themes of community and reconciliation are just as relevant today as they were when the book was first published.