Outback

The Australian interior of 1808 was wild, enormous, and beyond the reach of any law. Into that country came Patrick Garrity, who set out to build a home, start a family, and farm the ground he claimed. The novel follows the Garrity clan through years of toil, suffering, and loss, and it centres on the women who held the family together and fought for what it had built.

Mayrah, Patrick's native-born wife, is the steady core of the household. Their daughter Sheila grows into a formidable woman who raises an illegitimate son with more resolve than many men possess. Elizabeth, the daughter of a minister, marries into the family and wins their loyalty by standing beside them when they must defend their dream of a life in Australia.