An Australian Story

This is a story of redemption and turmoil, violence and ambition, love and loss, and of course, Australia. This is quite an epic piece of writing, and the only thing that drew me to it was my recent interest in traveling to Australia and checking out the place for a while. I was searching for any interesting reading about the country and stumbled across this. This appealed to my literary side as well, because the story sounded so interesting, and I thought that it would put me in the proper mindset to really start making decisions about my trip. I am still just as undecided, but I have gained a hell of a lot of appreciation for the Australian landscape, and quite a bit of love for Gordon Smith along the way. He crafts a long-winded, but beautifully crafted story of a family through half a dozen generations, in a way that few authors would date to undertake. Not only that, he balanced family dynamics and a rich narrative with some of the most impactful events in modern history. There was a wealth of research behind this book to make so much of it so believable, and for that alone, I would respect the author and give him five stars. However, what really pushed this book over the edge of great for me was his diligent character work - bringing these people to life for us, his readers, as we watch them grow as individuals and evolve as a family unit. Truly Impressive Stuff!