Rich and subtle, this is a compelling novel from one of New Zealand's finest writers. It is a moving study of love and disappointment, of the harm we do to each other, knowingly and unknowingly, of the power and significance of landscape in our lives. A graveyard is all that's left of the remote Central Otago settlement of Drybread, which miners, often hungry and disappointed, once searched for gold. It is to an old cottage nearby that Penny Maine-King flees with her young son, defying a Californian court order awarding custody of the child to her estranged husband. And seeking her in this austere, burnt country is journalist Theo Esler. He is after a story, but he discovers something far more personal and significant.

Brief history of Hereford cattle: v. 1, p. 359-375.

James Prichard (ca. 1746-1818/1821) married Elizabeth Hughes about 1775, served in the Revolutionary War, and moved from Maryland to Jefferson (later Shelby, later Henry) County, Kentucky about 1786. Descendants lived in Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Nebraska, Kansas, Florida, California and elsewhere.