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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
Tragically orphaned at sea, cast adrift in an alien land, Sibell Delahunty applies for the post of secretary-companion to Charlotte Hamilton and undertakes the arduous journey to Black Wattle Station in the Northern Territory to join her employer. The rigours of an isolated cattle station come as a tremendous shock to the gently brought-up English girl, and she is viewed with suspicion by Charlotte's sons. Only Charlotte's own kindness makes life tolerable, helped, in time, by increasing interest from the unmarried son, Zack. When a horrific disaster deprives the station of its mistress, Sibell takes charge of the domestic arrangements, and despite some early mishaps, she earns the grudging respect of the family. She also discovers within herself an unsuspected strength and resilience. But the harsh and unforgiving land is not finished with Sibell yet: her courage and endurance are to be tested to the utmost before she feels truly at home in her adopted country. (Publisher's blurb, back cover).
Notes
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For Desiree and Garry Shaw Dea, Pauline and Bron
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Epigraph: Ode We are the music-makers, And we are the dreamers of dreams, Wandering by lone sea-breakers, And sitting by desolate streams; World-losers and world-forsakers, On whom the pale moon gleams: Yet we are the movers and shakers Of the world forever, it seems. Arthur O'Shaughnessy, 1874.
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Postword by the author. (p.470).
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Also sound recording.
Works about this Work
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Forecasts
1992
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Bookseller & Publisher , August vol. 72 no. 1029 1992; (p. 28-29)
— Review of The Feather and the Stone 1992 single work novel
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Forecasts
1992
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Bookseller & Publisher , August vol. 72 no. 1029 1992; (p. 28-29)
— Review of The Feather and the Stone 1992 single work novel
Last amended 8 May 2020 12:03:45
Settings:
- Western Australia,
- Northern Territory,
- 1800-1899
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