Rural Dreams: Stories From The Bush

by Margaret Hickey

Margaret Hickey’s Rural Dreams takes a look at life outside the big smoke, featuring the kind of characters you might expect in the country – as well as some you might not.

A football coach ponders obsession . . . a mouse plague dictates school yard politics . . . a failed playwright asks ‘who gets the farm?’ . . . and a young woman returns to her fire-ravaged town.

People we know. People we grew up with. Some of them might even be us . . .

Funny, heartbreaking and true, Rural Dreams highlights the richness of life on the land and showcases the beauty of lives lived outside city walls.


‘Each story brings a richness of character and experience, unexpected and utterly authentic.’ Marian Matta, author of Life, Bound

'Stories that are lively, entertaining and authentic.' Martin Flanagan

‘There’s a beauty in these stories that feels reminiscent of fairy tales - not all with happy endings - but all leaving you feeling like you’ve understood something of what it is to be human.’ Westerly Magazine

‘It’s a cliché to say that there’s something for everyone in this book but there just is.’ Books+Publishing

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

168 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 7, 2025

About the author

Margaret Hickey is an award-winning author and playwright from North East Victoria. She has a PhD in Creative Writing and is deeply interested in rural lives and communities. She is the author of Cutters End and Stone Town.

Reviews

[Jennifer (JC-S) · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘Venturing into the world outside the city …’

There are eighteen short stories in this anthology, ranging between ten and twenty pages in length. Eighteen different situations, some immediately recognisable if you have spent any time in a rural community. Stories of community, of the importance of nature, of hard work. Stories about the pull between home and here, for some of those who have left and miss the country, stories about escape for those pleased to have moved out (and think they have moved on). Small worlds in some stories (such as A Bit of Scrapbooking), dangerous worlds (The Precipice) and then there is the mother who seems unable to speak without swearing (Mind Your Language).

I enjoy well-written short stories like these. Each story is self-contained, each story had me wanting (but not needing) more. Why? Because the characters became alive, and I wanted to know what they would do next. Ms Hickey captures both what is good about life in rural communities, and what can be stifling when everyone knows your business.

The story that will stay with me is The Precipice. I loved the character in A Bit of Scrapbooking and could totally relate to the character in Glory Days.

I recommend this anthology to anyone who enjoys short stories set in Australia.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

[EmG ReadsDaily · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely collection of short stories about life in rural Australia.

[Cass Moriarty · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am loving short stories more and more. Bite-sized and easy to read an entire story in one go. Variety. And, often, a collection that is themed. This is the case with Rural Dreams (Midnight Sun Publishing 2020) by Margaret Hickey. Each of the beguiling stories in this anthology concern rural and/or outback Australia. Some of the characters are living in the country, and either loving it or wishing they could escape. Some have already moved to the city but are missing their country childhoods – the bush adventures, the local footy, the closeness of community. But in every story is suffused a gentle and subdued respect for the slowness of life, the nearness of nature, the hard scrabble of farming, the pleasure and pain of everyone knowing everybody else’s business, and the pull of where you come from, where you belong. If you herald from a country town or have ever lived or worked in a rural area, this collection will appeal to you. It will touch something deep inside. Hickey has the ability to recreate those small-town feelings with a few sentences, a quickly-painted portrait, some lines of dialogue that resonate with an authentic ring.
The stories range from a backpacker rescued from a crocodile swamp to a mother who won’t stop swearing to a chilling story about a hike that goes horribly wrong. I loved the heart in the story Fowler’s Bay and the poignancy of Coach. Hickey demonstrates her knowledge of nature and the Australian bush in several stories including Twitcher and Overcoat Joe. One of my favourites – quite unexpectedly – was A Bit of Scrapbooking; the ending really affected me. Desolate and The Precipice are both quite sinister and chilling. There is unexpected humour in many, including The Romantics.
One very interesting thing that I noted about this collection: one of the stories is very similar to a novel recently released by another Australian author. So similar, in fact, that I had to keep checking what I was reading and almost gasping with the familiarity. I’m not suggesting anything improper. I just find it fascinating that two authors – independently and presumably without knowing about each other – have written stories (one a full-length novel, one a short story) that can be almost identical in so many aspects. Perhaps it’s true that all the stories in the world have already been told, and we’re just recycling them. It’s something like meeting your doppelganger. Perhaps you might like to read this collection and see if you can spot which story I’m referring to…and wonder yourself about the creative artistic mind, the zeitgeist of the time, and the way our collective consciousness works in a subliminal way.

[Kellie Hoffman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved it! I know the author personally and her voice comes shining through like a lovely beacon of light. Marg has always had the ability to spin a good yarn or tell a tall tale. Her pub stories are embellished with humour and sprinkled with personality. This written collection, although refined a little for posterity, are equally as engaging. Well done Marg; you took me from the heart of rural Australia to Cricklewood Broadway & back again. I enjoyed every single second of the journey & you are indeed a rager! Read this people, you won’t regret it.

[Lewis Woolston · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't expecting anything great from this but i was pleasantly suprised.
Hickey has a knack for the short story, the art of the five page punch in the gut, i hope she writes more short stories.
Very refreshing too to see modern Australian authors focus on the Australia outside Melbourne and Sydney.
Well worth a read.

[Trish · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not a fan of short stories and only picked this up because I needed some to read for Vision Australia's, Cover to Cover program.
They're okay.
Small praise, but for me they served a purpose.
Don't listen to me :)

[Marian Matta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading Margaret Hickey's debut short story collection, "Rural Dreams", is like immersing yourself in a country Australian version of "Humans of New York".Each story brings a richness of character and experience, unexpected and utterly authentic. If you've ever looked at rural Aussies from a distance and imagined that you understand them, that their stories are plain and straightforward, this collection will set you straight.

Yes, there's dust and sun and drought and animals, but there's beauty and heartbreak and a joyous resilience which brought me to tears at times. To pick out favourites is almost impossible but I'll give it a go. 'Coach' plays with the country idea of a town revolving around sport, and what happens when not everyone can fall in step with that ideal. 'The Wanderer', set in Prague, is a heartwrenching look at the realities of life and the sorrow we sometimes must carry. There's menace in 'The Precipice', with descriptions of the high country which had me there, holding my breath as protagonists moved too close to the edge, literally and metaphorically. There's so many other stories which took me out of myself and deep into the lives of others.

Margaret's language is often colloquial and funny, even in stories with hidden depths of emotion, like 'Mind Your Language'. It soars too: 'Overshadowed by a dark vine, the yard looked as though it had not once, ever seen the fullness of day. Strange patterns of light made way through spindly branches, creating weird patterns on the dank soil. The sharp smell of rotting fruit suggested that the clump of trees near the back fence was an orchard. The growing fascinated her ...' And it shatters: 'I think about my father’s big farmer arms carrying his emaciated twenty-year old son from chair to bed. Those big arms with the farmer’s tan and the haggard skin of a white Australian’s life outdoors and his son’s, sallow and dry, like flaking paint on a dilapidated house.'

The more I read, the more I fell in love with this book. These are stories which resonate with colour. Look at the stunning book cover, designed by Kim Locke, with its rich, earthy tones and its flashes of sky and promises of something beyond the country stereotypes - that is a perfect representation of my reading experience. "Rural Dreams" is vibrant and very real.

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Australian rural landscape can be harsh, beautiful and often isolating. In her debut collection of short stories, Margaret Hickey explores this landscape and the many people and unique situations within. There's the footballer who leaves the city behind to go home every weekend, the terminally ill mother who thinks that the Gold Coast is the best place in the world and who has trouble seeing eye-to-eye with her Melbourne born and bred daughter-in-law, and a bloke who just likes birds who arouses suspicion in others.

Author Margaret Hickey's talent lies not only in creating believable characters and situations, but adding some kind of a twist to the story that, while always unexpected, is nearly always fitting. A particular highlight for me, however, was Mind Your Language, about a single mum who swears often but who quite beautifully teaches the school principal a thing or two about politeness.

Overall this is an enjoyable collection, with an eclectic mix of characters and situations.

Recommended.

Thank you to Midnight Sun Publishing for my copy of Rural Dreams.

This review also appears on my blog, Kathryn's Inbox.

[Imbi Neeme]

This was a great read. A collection of short stories loosely woven together, the characters were so vividly drawn that I entered every story completely. There were stories that made me cry (Coach) and made me laugh (Mind Your Language), and there were others that were deeply disquieting (Desolate).

Ultimately, this book gave me a "rural escape" without having to break the 5km rule currently in place in Melbourne.

I look forward to reading more of Margaret Hickey's work in the future!

[B Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love short stories and this collection reminded me why. As MartinFlanagan so aptly puts it on the cover, it’s ‘Lively authentic and entertaining’. There’s a lot to like in this collection, the laugh out loud moments in ‘Mind your Language’ and the sheer beauty in ‘Coach’. I felt for the young girl in ‘Rescue’ and it made me question some of my own adolescent experiences. This collection made me want to pack bags and head back to the country! A perfect read in uncertain times.

[Vivian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Superbly written collection of short stories. I particularly liked how characters were woven from one story to another, adding to their journey in new and unexpected ways. So evocative of the bush mystique, a brilliant collection. Loved it.

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Rural dreams' is a collection of short stories about characters that live in rural Victoria (Australia). Some characters live on farms, some live in the city and are returning to the rural hometown of their childhood, some are young backpackers from rural backgrounds stretching their wings and having adventures overseas. Most of the characters are women. Some of men. Many of the characters are young adults. If the adage applies that writers write about what they know. I could guess that Margaret Hickory grew up on a sheep farm in rural Victoria, had brothers that played footy, ate lots of corn-beef sandwiches, lived in share accommodation in Melbourne (perhaps whilst at studying at university) and did a spot of backpacking around Europe. These themes permeate many of her stories in 'Rural Dreams'. Her descriptions of the scenery are vivid. Having grown-up in Victoria myself, I can easily visualise the settings that she has created. Most of the characters are quite likeable, some a little quirky, which you get in a country town. There are some interesting twists at the end of some of the tales. It is an easy and entertaining read if stuck inside when the weather outdoors in intolerable.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting collection of short stories that demonstrates the author's skill across several genres. We meet a variety of characters, locations and situations. There are those who can't wait to leave their little country town, and others who can't wait to return. there is the every day life outside the big city towns. And Margaret Hickey brings them all to life in this collection.

Funny, heartbreaking and true; the characters in Rural Dreams are the people we know and grew up with. Some of them might even be us. A girl finds strength in poetry, a football coach ponders obsession, a woman grapples with the fall out of an affair and a mother can't and won't stop swearing. In 'Binky', the character asks, 'who gets the farm?' and in 'Rescue', a backpacker is pulled out of a crocodile swamp. Written through the lens of landscape, Rural Dreams highlights the richness of life on the land and showcases the beauty of lives lived outside city walls. 'Rural Australia is a dangerously neglected part of our national consciousness - Margaret Hickey populates it with stories that are lively, entertaining and authentic.' - Martin Flanagan

[Jo | Booklover Book Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rural Dreams is a short story collection less about climaxes and more about the moments either side of them. The excitement about the new shoes before the blister, and that startling clarity of hindsight, perhaps I threw the old ones away just a day too soon.

Key themes include the way our surroundings shape us, from our childhood dreams and expectations, right through to our mood on a particular day. The tug of war between city and country, or even our Australian upbringing versus the lure of adventures abroad; the magnetic pull or repulsion of what is familiar, or another location where people first feel like they belong. And it is not all greener pastures and seaside escapes… darker undercurrents lurk too. Continue reading>> https://www.bookloverbookreviews.com/...

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

A novella of short stories, Rural Dreams (2025) by Margaret Hickey is a collection of rural tales. The fourteen stories feature different characters and their connection to country living, whether in childhood (and now living in the city) or experiencing the slow-paced, nature and knowing everybody in your community. A gentle, entertaining read that is an ode to rural Australia, with its rich characters and the authentic feel of life beyond the city. This novella is a Penguin re-release of an earlier 2020 Midnight Sun book. A typical Aussie series of stories with a bush focus that has a four star read rating. As always, the opinions herein are totally my own, freely given and without any inducement.

[Brendon Fehre · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing exciting. Reads more like high school essays than short stories, I found it droned on endlessly about nothing really, e.g. One story Rustik started off about a new cafe (called Rustik) that was opening in a small town, (which would have been interesting), but then went off on a tangent and you heard nothing more about the cafe by the end of the story - Did the young couple make it work, did it close, so you are left wondering what happened.

Hard to believe 'several stories have won or been shortlisted for awards'.

There was just nothing to get excited about. No enough twists or turns, just droned on - having been raised and brought up in the a rural town there are more interesting stories - you are not likely to remember any of then in a week or ever again.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you have lived in rural towns or on farms and loved it or couldn’t wait to leave then you will find a relatable story, place, situation or character in this book. What a joy to read such authenticity of rural life, it’s dilemmas, nuances, tugs and pulls not to mention the escapes through travels to far away places. I almost found myself in the Patche Pub again, listening to the banter, the endless stories of footy, farming, weather and mice, of those who don’t ‘fit the mould’, could taste the dust and feel the heat! Highly recommend this little gem of a book as it shares some real insights into life in the bush as we know it or, do we?

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rural Dreams was a collection of short stories from rural communities and it was perfect for the Christmas and New Years break. I don't often read short stories but this book was a case of the right book at the right time, during a time when I just wanted to dip in and out of stories.
The author's writing is always so interesting and the descriptions of the people, places and even the sunrise, made me feel like I was right there.
As always, I look forward to more by this author.
Thank you so much to Penguin Books Australia for this gifted review copy.

[Cel Jel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A set of short stories set mainly in rural Australia. In a couple of the stories it is a rural person as the main protagonist in situations not rural Australia, but influenced by their background.
I very much enjoyed the variety and the way the stories shared how communities work and how interactions between members of small communities happen.

[Carolyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I usually love short stories but I was disappointed in these ones. Perhaps I was just not in the right mood. They certainly did depict country life and characters but they lacked impact. I have really enjoyed Hickey's detective stories for both their plot and their rural Australian landscapes so perhaps I was expecting something more than these stories offered.

[Michele (michelethebookdragon) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed these stories. I don't normally read short stories much, but I certainly appreciate the talent that it takes to craft a narrative and in depth characters in a few pages and drag the reader into a story.

This little foray into rural life was interesting and I found the stories were all a bit sad, a bit melancholy. For mine, most of the characters were wishing they were somewhere else, doing something else or rueing chances missed.

I got the feeling of the country reading these stories. The expanse of the land, the desperation of farmers, the anguish of small towns on the brink.

My favourites of these vignettes of rural life were Saturday Morning, Coach, The Precipice and The Romantics. You can see how much Margaret loves the country, and football (of the AFL variety).

[Babette DiBella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this more than I thought as short stories aren't my thing, I'm more "the bigger the better" sort of reader.
I felt like I was looking through the lens of people I knew and heard my own voice in some of the characters.
I'll definitely be reading one of her novels.

[Bec · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this collection of short stories. Some of them I could see as longer stories like the Precipice (although that was apparently the basis of The Creeper but I can’t remember if these characters were actually in that story)

[Rhonda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't usually read short stories because, well, they are so short, but I love the author's novels, so gave this a go. It's a great themed collection with a country focus. Having read The Creeper novel, it was interesting to read The Precipice "origin" short story. Looking forward to more.

[Michael Burge · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great collection. I particularly loved the stories 'A Little Bit of Scrapbooking', 'The Precipice' and 'The Romantics'.

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sorry, not really a fan of short stories.

[Simon Hickey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book. Can relate to stories from the country.

[Corinne Johnston · Rating 3 out of 5]

a bit too sad and depressing for me, maybe of more import to someone who grew up in the bush

[Don Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great collection of stories and I really enjoyed reading one which was later developed as Ms Hickey's great novel The Creeper.

[Martin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Left wanting with these short stories.
Very simple....