Unwanted and unloved, he was born in shame and raised in the poverty of a Sydney orphanage. Barely out of his teens, he left the brawling city to make a new life for himself in the limitless back country of New South Wales. Alone and hungry, he met the woman who would change his destiny and that of an entire continent. Innocent in the ways of Europeans, Mayrah was the native girl Garrity bought to satisfy his passions. Divided by competing cultures, they were nevertheless united by their fierce love of the land—and eventually, each other. Together they carved out an enormous empire in the great outback, and founded a new generation of Australians who would forever bear the imprint of their pride and passion.

    

    

    Thea Hodge, aged twelve, knows that young ladies should be pretty, demure and nice, but what is she to make of the mysterious and sensual Rina, the exotic sisters Love and Mercy, and her own sister Meg, whose plans for marriage and conformity go horribly wrong?

    The story of Queensland's development from an unmapped wilderness into a thriving State is one of drama, colour and high adventure.