When it all goes wrong, where is there left to run to but home? A Desperate Retreat Kate Gilmore hasn't been home in years, but with her marriage over and her job in jeopardy she doesn't know where else to turn. Desperate for comfort, Kate retreats to the Mallee, a place crawling with dark secrets and lingering childhood memories. Finding Connections When she's offered a carer's job on the isolated Rosebud Farm, Kate soon meets old Harry Quickly, an intriguing young boy called Maxie, and a handsome harvest contractor who's not shy about making his intentions known. Healing Under Mallee Skies Under the endless Mallee skies, Kate discovers that she might just have a future in the place that has haunted her past. But are some family secrets better left in the grave or can new friendships heal old wounds? ___________________ Praise for Kerry McGinnis "McGinnis is a natural storyteller with a deep understanding of life on the land." - The Weekly Times "McGinnis has the eye of a painter; she writes as she sees and the land comes alive." - Weekend Australian "Anything McGinnis writes begs to be read aloud around a campfire." - Country Style "Kerry McGinnis writes like poetry . . . The way she recalls places and feelings and is able to write about them with such authority is why she stands out among Australian authors. " - Fleur McDonald ___________________ Additional Books by Kerry McGinnis Expand your collection with these captivating novels from Kerry McGinnis: *Bloodwood Creek *Gathering Storms *The Missing Girl *Croc Country *The Roadhouse *The Heartwood Hotel *Secrets of the Springs *Out of Alice *Tracking North *Wildhorse Creek *Mallee Sky *The Waddi Tree Experience the captivating narratives and immersive landscapes of Kerry McGinnis's books. Order now!

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Sometimes I feel like I'm neither one thing nor another. I live in the Mallee but I don't like the desert. I live on a farm but I get hay fever and I'm scared of goats. I like school but my best mates don't. I'm stuck between stuff. It's like I'm not meant to be here but I am.Sandy Douglas knows that life at fifteen is hard, but it's even harder when your mother died a year ago and nothing's gone right since. His brother Red, on the other hand, is eighteen now and working the farm. He's amped up on rage and always looking for a fight. And then there's their dad Tom. He does his best, but - really - he doesn't have a clue.As Sandy and Red deal with girls, dirt biking, footy and friendship, both boys have to work out who they want to be, without their mum around. The Mallee, where they live, may seem like the middle of nowhere, but it turns out this is going to be one hell of a year.Winner of the 2016 Adelaide Festival Unpublished Manuscript Award

Mallee Country tells the powerful history of mallee lands and people across southern Australia from Deep Time to the present. Carefully shaped and managed by Aboriginal people for over 50,000 years, mallee country was dramatically transformed by settlers, first with sheep and rabbits, then by flattening and burning the mallee to make way for wheat. Government backed settlement schemes devastated lives and country, but some farmers learnt how to survive the droughts, dust storms, mice, locusts and salinity - as well as the vagaries of international markets - and became some of Australia's most resilient agriculturalists. In mallee country, innovation and tenacity have been neighbours to hardship and failure.Mallee Country is a story of how land and people shape each other. It is the story of how a landscape once derided by settlers as a 'howling wilderness' covered in 'dismal scrub' became home to citizens who delighted in mallee fauna and flora and fought to conserve it for future generations. And it is the story of the dreams, sweat and sorrows of people who face an uncertain future of depopulation and climate change with creativity and hope.

Written by anthropologist Diane Johnson, Night Skies of Aboriginal Australia has been in demand since its publication in 1998. It is a record of the stars and planets which pass across night-time.

A modern western set in an isolated Australian bush town with a soaring crime rate, where a local constable with a troubled past must investigate the death of a teenage girl whose murder threatens to set the dusty streets ablaze. Constable Paul Hirschhausen—”Hirsch”—is a recently demoted detective sent from Adelaide, Australia’s southernmost booming metropolis, to Tiverton, a one-road town in rustic, backwater “wool and wheat” country three hours north. Hirsch isn’t just a disgraced cop; the internal investigations bureau is still trying to convict him of something, even if it means planting evidence. When someone leaves a pistol cartridge in his mailbox, Hirsch suspects that his career isn't the only thing on the line. But the tiny town of Tiverton has more crime than one lone cop should have to handle. The stagnant economy, rural isolation, and entrenched racism and misogyny mean every case Hirsch investigates is a new basket of snakes. When the body of a 16-year-old local girl is found on the side of the highway, the situation in Tiverton gets even more sinister, and whether or not he finds her killer, there’s going to be hell to pay. Paperback edition found under the title Bitter Wash Road. From the Hardcover edition.

The long-awaited life story of John Williamson: an Australian icon, a much-loved legend of the music industry and man of the land. The joy after all is in the journey, or being what you really wanna be . . . The son of a wheat farmer, John Williamson grew up with an appreciation of the land and all things Australian. His career was kickstarted with a self-proclaimed silly song – 'Old Man Emu' – winning TV's New Faces in 1970, but it was a decade of hard slog before he forged his unique place in our musical history. From his love of the bush ('Mallee Boy') and his outrage at environmental destruction ('Rip Rip Woodchip'), to his pride in the Australian character and spirit ('True Blue'), Williamson has been chronicling the subjects and issues that are close to his heart for more than forty years. He has become the voice of Australia, performing his unofficial anthems at all the major events. In his distinctive Aussie style, John Williamson tells it like it is. He takes us behind the scenes on the road and at home, revealing the tough times, the great times, what drives him and what matters. His passion – for preserving our national character and landscape, and to remain true to himself – is as strong now as it has ever been. This is a journey into the heart and soul of Australia.