The Last Station

Description

With the riverboat trade along the Darling River slowly dying, a once-prosperous pastoralist family fights to survive - and discovers there is a cost to love . . . 'Unputdownable ... epitomising the great Australian novel.' Anita Heiss In nineteenth-century New South Wales, the name Dalhunty stood for prosperity and prestige. The family's vast station was home to more than 80 people, and each year their premium wool was shipped down the bustling Darling River to be sold in South Australia. Yet, just decades later, Dalhunty Station is on the brink of ruin . . . In the summer of 1909, eccentric Benjamin Dalhunty and his son Julian anxiously await the arrival of the Lady Matilda, the first paddle-steamer to navigate the river in more than two years. It will transport their very last wool clip to market. Twenty-year-old Julian wants more from life than the crumbling station, but as the eldest son his future has been set since birth. Until the day his mother invites a streetwise young man from Sydney into their home . . . Ethan Harris's arrival shines a light on a family at breaking point. But he also unwittingly offers Julian an escape, as the young men embark on a perilous journey down the Darling and west into untamed lands. The Last Station is a captivating story of heritage, heartbreak and hope, set during the dying days of the riverboat trade along the Darling River. 'A warm and uniquely Australian story.' Herald Sun 'An enthralling, gritty adventure... Bursting with pathos, humour and folklore.' Michael Burge author of Tank Water 'A captivating story... Evocative, engrossing and entertaining.' Alison Booth author of The Painting

Nicole Alexander has a Master of letters in Creative Writing and her novels, poetry, travel, writing and genealogy articles have been published in Australia, America, Singapore, New Zealand, Germany, Ukraine and Canada. She is the author of ten other novels- The Bark Cutters, A Changing Land, Absolution Creek, Sunset Ridge, The Great Plains, Wild Lands, River Run, An Uncommon Woman, Stone Country and The Cedar Tree. Nicole lives in north-west NSW.