I bought this book purely because it was published by Virago and it wasn’t till I got home and read the blurb on the back that I thought ‘Oh dearie me! This could be a mistake!’ But as usual for Viragos, it was a really enjoyable and informative read. This is another book on my 2011 Reading List.

It’s set in Australia, and that was what put me off in the beginning because yes – it’s too hot and too sunny! But I got over that even though in parts I almost felt that the red dust of Australia was lodged in my throat.

The Parsons family Ma, Pa and daughters Helen and Mary have built up a home and farm business in the Northern Territory but when a Japanese aeroplane drops a bomb nearby they decide it’s time to move on and head for a safer part of the country. They’re living in fear of a Japanese invasion.

The family joins up with Dan McAlpine to drive 1,000 cows and bullocks to Queensland. It’s a 1,600 mile journey on horseback and cart across a hostile landscape, searching for aboriginal waterholes along the way. The native Australian people are mainly written about with respect but it did infuriate me that they had to make do with the rib bones when the others were eating steaks!

First published in 1947, the book was written after the film of the same name. I’ve read and seen so much about World War II in the past but it’s always been about Europe or Egypt and it just hadn’t occurred to me that people in Australia were being bombed and living in fear too.