The novel traces forty years in their lives, with Sandy acquiring his own cattle empire, Bindi regaining part of his tribal land, and Mulga finally sitting down to write about it all. It starts with the three of them rounding up a herd of unbranded cattle that (technically) they don’t own, in country that (technically) they don’t own, and this question of ownership recurs throughout.

The main strength of the book lies in Wharton’s vast knowledge of the skills and methods of the stockmen, and his vivid descriptions of outback life. There is a thread of low-key reflectiveness concerned with the questions of Aboriginal preservation and adaptation, and of course land rights.

Wharton’s promotion of the idea of custodianship of the land and its creatures seems much more useful and far-sighted than the finite, exploitative relationship that exists between many of our resources and their absentee owners. In other ways, the politics of the book are conservative at best, for this is one of those narratives where the women are spoken for in much the same way as the cattle.