AustLit

A story of cross-cultural relations and romantic love on the cane fields.

A taciturn and suspicious husband learns to appreciate the true nature of his wife when he wrongly presumes she has run off with another man.

A man recalls his time spent in the Solomons when he encountered an old Australian stockman who was visiting. The stockman insisted on mounting the man's horse, which reacted with a buckjumping display that sorely tested the old stockman's lapsed skills. It wasn't until the old man was on the point of departing, having shared many stories of his youth, that the man realised this was his father-in-law to be.

A young girl feels she is living her life like a bird trapped in a cage, whereas her vivacious friend is like a free-flying bird. When her father dies, the girl leaves for England and makes a name for herself in the theatre. Years later, now a famous actress, she returns to Australia for a series of performances which include one in her old home town. There she is not only reunited with her friend, but also with her former suitor whose offers of marriage she had rejected three times in her youth. His fourth offer, she accepts.

Travelling on an ocean voyage, Lady Muriel finds pleasure in listening to the stories of exotic places the Captain tells her. When a fierce storm causes Lady Muriel to fall and hit her head, the Captain proves to be an attentive host. However, at the end of the journey she can only wonder what might have been.

Visiting her uncle's station, Gwen cannot hope to be anywhere near the horsewoman her cousin Bee is, nor gain the admiration of Arthur, the jackeroo.

Madge, heartbroken after the death of her mother, dismisses a marriage proposal from her friend Derrick, but when Derrick's half-cousin, Allan, arrives from England, Madge's interest is piqued. Allan, however, sagely advises Madge that work is the answer to overcoming her grief. Madge acts upon his advice and trains as a nurse in Brisbane. When Allan visits Madge twelve months later, he knows the time is right to propose to her.

An artist who has always felt an affinity for Asia, although she has never been there, paints a Buddhist temple which she has seen in a dream. When an attempt is made on her life and the painting is destroyed she discovers a family secret which explains her strange obsession.

Happily ensconced on a North Queensland beach, growing tropical fruit to supply southern markets, Richard Brown was content with his life. That was, until a cutter pulled in to Cardwell harbour bearing the beautiful half-Samoan girl, Lily. Richard's idyllic life was complete when Lily's father gave permission for them to marry. However, after ten years Lily fell victim to a fatal disease, leaving Richard to raise their nine year old daughter, Magnolia.

Howard criticises the way Aboriginal people have been treated, and argues that they can be trained to work productively in any industry.

A hunter kills an eaglehawk by applying poison to a dead wallaby.