The Burning Land — John Fletcher

That land out there has been burning me as long as I can remember. All these years I've been getting ready for this moment. I'm going out there to take hold of it ...

Raised by struggling Scottish immigrants in the sparsely inhabited mountains of the Port Phillip District, Matthew Curtis dreams of the vast unexplored spaces of inland Australia.

Defying his stern foster-father, he leaves home -- and the warm, grey eyes of Catriona Simmons -- at sixteen. His journey takes him first to the brawling life of the goldfields with the beautiful Janice Honeyman, then north into the burning wilderness of the unexplored outback.

An engrossing historical saga in the tradition of Evan Green and Wilbur Smith, The Burning Land bursts with life and the passion and daring of Australia's pioneers.