IIntrodcution: Coonardoo is set on the vast expanse of North-Western Australia. Coonardoo, an Aboriginal native, and her extended family work on Wytaliba, the million-acre station owned by Hugh, the white son who inherits the land where he and Coonardoo grew up together. Cattle ranching and horse-breaking provide the station's income, and Hugh cannot run Wytaliba without Coonardoo and the native people. "Through his love of the country and of Wytaliba, Hugh realized, was woven regard for the people who had grown in and were bound to it." The novel is full of descriptions of the land, of native people treated "well," and of an unspoken love between Coonardoo - who can - and Hugh - who can't - accept it. Both Coonardoo and Hugh, influenced by society's attitudes, experience torments from love denied.

Personen: Prichard, Katharine Susannah