The Bedford family arrives at Port Haven with nothing but hope and the weight of a new beginning. Captain Bedford, his wife, their two daughters, and three young cousins have crossed an ocean to claim their piece of the Australian frontier, but the land they now stand on is foreign, vast, and utterly indifferent to their dreams. The boys especially, curious and restless, find themselves thrust into a world where every shadow might hide danger and every horizon promises the unknown. Their salvation comes in an unexpected form: Shanter, an Aboriginal man whose strange manners initially alarm the adults but whose knowledge of the land proves invaluable. As the family prepares to journey inland, the narrative crackles with the tension between terror and wonder, between the civilization they're leaving behind and the wilderness that will test everything they thought they knew about themselves. Fenn captures the raw thrill of starting over in a land that doesn't welcome you but might, if you're brave enough, learn to trust you.
