So the moment you’ve all been waiting for. To ring in the Australia Day Long Weekend, we have a very special surprise waiting for you at the bottom of the page. Make sure you don’t miss it.

Booktopia is proud to announce that Australia’s Favourite Novelist as voted by you is…

1. Kate Morton

A huge congratulations to Kate Morton on being voted Australia’s Favourite Novelist. After tens of thousands of votes were cast, it became clear that early favourite Tim Winton would be trumped by the international bestseller from Brisbane.

Raised on a healthy diet of Enid Blyton, Morton decided to become a writer after completing a summer Shakespeare course at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. Putting her dreams of acting aside she concentrated on writing and completed two manuscripts (which may never see the light of day) and began to construct the narrative of what would eventually become the bestseller The Shifting Fog.

Kate Morton’s books are published in 38 countries. The House at Riverton was a Sunday Times #1 bestseller in the UK in 2007 and a New York Times bestseller in 2008. The Shifting Fog won General Fiction Book of the Year at the 2007 Australian Book Industry Awards, and The House at Riverton was nominated for Most Popular Book at the British Book Awards in 2008.

Our Pick

Her second book, The Forgotten Garden, was a #1 bestseller in Australia and Spain, and a Sunday Times #1 bestseller in the UK in 2008. It won General Fiction Book of the Year at the 2009 Australian Book Industry Awards and was a New York Times bestseller in 2009. The Distant Hours was an international bestseller in 2010 and won General Fiction Book of the Year at the 2011 ABIAs.

Congratulations Kate on being named Australia’s Favourite Novelist for 2013.

Click here to go to Kate Morton’s author page

Thanks to everyone for making Booktopia’s search to discover Australia’s Favourite Novelist such a success. And here’s the treat.

Booktopia is a proudly Australian-Owned and Operated business and we want to give something back to the tremendous authors and customers that have helped us grow over the years, so we’ve created….

Australian Stories.

Who we were, who we are, and who we want to be.

Australian Stories is a database filled with only the best Australia has to offer. Books for Australians, by Australians, and about Australia. Fiction, non-fiction, children’s books, you name it, it’s there. So step on in and discover Australian Stories with us, Booktopia, Australia’s Local Bookstore.

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About the Contributor

Andrew Cattanach

Andrew Cattanach is a regular contributor to The Booktopia Blog. He has been shortlisted for The Age Short Story Prize and was named a finalist for the 2015 Young Bookseller of the Year Award. He enjoys reading, writing and sleeping, though finds it difficult to do them all at once.

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