Hi, i’m sophie
I’m an author and publisher living in Sydney, Australia. I’ve written several novels and I love exploring the art of storytelling in all its forms.
My latest book, LESSONS IN LOVE AT THE SEASIDE SALON is published on 30th July 2025.
When I’m not writing novels, I’m often writing about Australian country music—a genre I adore—on my website, Sunburnt Country Music. I also love practising yoga, exploring creativity in its many forms, and losing myself in music that tells a great story.
Weekends with the
Sunshine Gardening
Society
My Books
Art Hour at the Duchess
Hotel
The Bellbird River
Country Choir
The Shelly Bay Ladies
Swimming Circle
Thursdays at Orange
Blossom House
The Inaugural Meeting of
the Fairvale Ladies Book
Club
Lessins in Love at the
Seaside Salon
Four women. Four loves. Four life-changing stories. At a little salon by the sea - on the windblown
coast of 1980s Australia - four different women with intertwined lives will find themselves through
love, heartbreak and learning to love again.
Lost love: Trudy, 57, owns Summertime Salon in the sun-soaked Central Coast town of Terrigal. She
loves her job and her clients. Her colours, perms and Princess Di cuts bring joy and confidence to
regulars and tourists alike. But since Laurie died, life hasn't been the same.
Love on the rocks: Anna, 42, brings her mother to Summertime Salon every Monday morning but
never gets her own hair done. With two children and an absent husband, she doesn't have time for
vanity. When Anna kicks Gary out, will she also rediscover the joys of caring for herself, starting
with highlights?
Unrequited love: Hairdresser Evie, 33, has never had much luck with men. As a single mother, love
is the last thing on her mind. Then, new hire Sam joins the salon - he's handsome and kind, and he
and Evie hit it off immediately. But is their relationship all that it seems?
First love: Apprentice Josie, 19, is seeking independence. She's determined to make her own way in
the world, especially when she meets sweet surfer and mechanic Brett, who she can't quite believe is
silly over her. How long can she keep him a secret from her overprotective parents?
Uplifting and heartwarming, Lessons in Love at the Seaside Salon follows four women on their
journeys for love - in all its beautiful and bittersweet forms.
'Fulfilling and Australian as a lamb roast and full-bodied shiraz'
THE AUSTRALIAN WOMEN’S WEEKLY
lessons in love at the seaside salon
Mornington Peninsula, 1999. Wife and now grandmother Joan has checked into the grand old
Duchess Hotel to find herself again after thirty-five years of being who her husband and family have
wanted her to be. Peninsula local and soon-to-be octogenarian Frances is distracting herself from
getting old, and avoiding her self-interested son by escaping to the warmth of the Duchess where the
hotel staff treat her like the person she still is. Meanwhile Frances's daughter, Alison, is trying to manage
significant disruptions at home while hoping to finally prove to her mother that she's just as worthy of
love as her brother. New to the Duchess, hotel maid Kirrily is feeling the weight of a lifetime of
responsibility, struggling to balance bills and work and family, and keeping thoughts of how there must
be more to life at bay.
With its old-world glamour, sprawling seaside grounds and air of possibility, the Duchess Hotel might
just be the place to help the women rediscover who they are and bring some spark back to their lives.
When Joan decides to pick up a brush and start painting for the first time in decades, she inspires
Frances and Kirrily - and, eventually, Alison - to join her. Over canvas, conversation and creativity they
will learn that you should always hold onto your dreams and that new friends can give you the courage
to live life on your own terms.
'A great book club pick [for] fans of Elizabeth Strout's
Lucy by the Sea, Meg Bignell's The Angry Women's
Choir and Joanna Nell's Mrs Winterbottom Takes A
Gap Year'
BOOKS+PUBLISHING
ART HOUR AT THE
DUCHESS HOTEL
Noosa Heads, 1987: Newly divorced Cynthia has returned to her hometown from Los Angeles to
reconnect with her 19-year-old daughter, who is pregnant and determined not to listen to her
mother's advice. Cynthia's former best friend, Lorraine, has been stuck mowing lawns as part of a
business she shares with her husband - his dream, not hers. When Cynthia convinces Lorraine to join
the local Sunshine Gardening Society, they meet young widow Elizabeth, and rootless, heartbroken
Kathy.
The four women soon discover the society is much more than an opportunity to chat about flowers.
Rather, it offers them the chance to lend a helping hand to people whose lives need a bit of care
and attention, right along with their gardens.
Between pulling up weeds and planting natives, the women learn from each other that some roots
go deep, and others shallow; that seeds can lie dormant for a long time before they spring to life,
and that careful tending is the key to lives and friendships that reach their full potential.
'A ray of sunshine . . . and such a great armchair
escape'
THE VILLAGE OBSERVER
weekends with the
sunshine gardening
society
Bellbird River, 1998: Teacher and single mum Alex is newly arrived in the small NSW country town
of Bellbird River after escaping the city in search of a change of pace and the chance to reconnect
with her young daughter. Across town, well-known matriarch Victoria and her globe-trotting, opera-
singing cousin Gabrielle find themselves at a crossroads in their personal and professional lives,
while local baker Janine and newcomer to the district Debbie are each secretly dealing with the
consequences of painful pasts. With its dusty streets, lone pub and iron-lace verandahs, Bellbird
River could just be a pit stop on the road to somewhere else. But their town holds some secrets and
surprises - and it has a heart: the Bellbird River Country Choir.
Amid the melodies and camaraderie of the choir, each of the women will find the courage to leave
the past behind. And together, they'll discover that friends are much closer to home than they'd ever
realised.
'This is a warm treat of a novel, filled with great music
and small-town charm'
THE AUSTRALIAN
THE BELLBIRD RIVER
COUNTRY CHOIR
Far North Queensland, 1993: At 74, former cane farmer Grace Maud is feeling her age, and her
isolation, and thinks the best of life may be behind her. Elsewhere in town, high school teacher
Patricia has given up on her dreams of travel and adventure and has moved back home to look after
her ageing parents, while cafe owner Dorothy is struggling to accept that she may never have the
baby she and her husband so desperately want. Each woman has an unspoken need: reconnection.
And that's how they find themselves at Orange Blossom House, surrounded by perfumed rainforest,
being cajoled and encouraged by their yoga teacher, the lively Sandrine. Together, they will find
courage and strength - and discover that life has much more to offer than they ever expected.
Set amid the lush beauty of tropical Queensland, Thursdays at Orange Blossom House is a
heartwarming story of friendship and family, of chances missed and taken, and the eternal power of
love.
'Sophie Green has established herself as a leading
writer of warm-hearted tales about female friendship
and second chances'
CANBERRA WEEKLY
THURSDAYS AT ORANGE
BLOSSOM HOUSE
It's 1982 in Australia. THE MAN FROM SNOWY RIVER is a box office hit and Paul Hogan is on the
TV.
In a seaside suburb, housewife Theresa takes up swimming. She wants to get fit; she also wants a
few precious minutes to herself. So at sunrise each day she strikes out past the waves.
From the same beach, the widowed Marie swims. With her husband gone, bathing is the one
constant in her new life.
After finding herself in a desperate situation, 25-year-old Leanne only has herself to rely on. She
became a nurse to help others, even as she resists help herself.
Elaine has recently moved from England. Far from home and without her adult sons, her closest
friend is a gin bottle.
In the waters of Shelly Bay, these four women find each other. They will survive bluebottle stings and
heartbreak; they will laugh so hard they swallow water, and they will plunge their tears into the
ocean's salt. They will find solace and companionship, and learn that love takes many forms.
Most of all, they will cherish their friendship, each and every day.
'An upbeat story about suburban life and female
solidarity'
SPECTRUM
THE SHELLY BAY LADIES
SWIMMING CIRCLE
In 1978 the Northern Territory has begun to self-govern. Cyclone Tracy is a recent memory and
telephones not yet a fixture on the cattle stations dominating the rugged outback. Life is hard and
people are isolated. But they find ways to connect.
Sybil is the matriarch of Fairvale Station, run by her husband, Joe. Their eldest son, Lachlan, was
Joe's designated successor but he has left the Territory - for good. It is up to their second son, Ben, to
take his brother's place. But that doesn't stop Sybil grieving the absence of her child.
With her oldest friend, Rita, now living in Alice Springs and working for the Royal Flying Doctor
Service, and Ben's English wife, Kate, finding it difficult to adjust to life at Fairvale, Sybil comes up
with a way to give them all companionship and purpose: they all love to read, and she forms a
book club.
Mother-of-three Sallyanne is invited to join them. Sallyanne dreams of a life far removed from the
dusty town of Katherine where she lives with her difficult husband, Mick.
Completing the group is Della, who left Texas for Australia looking for adventure and work on the
land.
'The story of these resilient women is tender and
intimate. Sophie Green has created a world that's as
heartwarming, fulfilling and Australian as a lamb
roast and full-bodied shiraz'
AUSTRALIAN WOMEN'S WEEKLY
THE INAUGURAL MEETING
OF THE FAIRVALE LADIES
BOOK CLUB
A podcast in which bestselling Australian authors Rachael Johns (The Other Bridget, The Patterson
Girls) and Sophie Green (Weekends with the Sunshine Gardening Society, The Shelly Bay Ladies
Swimming Circle) talk about writing and books and all sorts of things - and they welcome
questions from other writers and readers!
dear rach & soph
I HAVE A PODCAST!