Joan Makes History follows Joan, an ordinary Australian woman who finds herself living many different lives across the country's history—from the First Fleet and the gold rush to colonial settlements and wartime Australia. In each era, Joan experiences history not as a famous figure, but as an everyday woman navigating the challenges, expectations, and upheavals of her time. As her story unfolds through these interconnected lives, the novel offers a fresh, humorous, and thought-provoking look at Australia's past from the perspective of those whose voices are often left out of traditional history books.