It is an undeniable fact that the environs and wildlife of the Great Southern Land, Australia, are heavenly intoxicating. To the Indigenous Aboriginals (whose ancestors lived here for thousands of years), those who have taken the brave and arduous pilgrimage across treacherous seas (in the early days of the British colony, and later the declared country of Australia, in the bejewelled Pacific and Indian Oceans) and endured long-haul plane flights to migrate ‘down under’, this unfathomably vast, diverse, complex and complicated country is a veritable utopia of blissfully pink and gold sunrises and sunsets, idyllically multi-layered mountain and seascape vistas and a way of life envied around the globe.

Yet for many, including those living stoically ‘on the land’, such as those on widely expansive sheep and cattle stations, whose fortunes fluctuate at the mercy of the fickle and sometimes cruel weather, life is downright hard. And sadly, these strong, determined country people are often forgotten by we city folk. That is to our detriment. These folk keep the country going and operating successfully and deserve our respect and admiration.

In stellar Australian (she currently resides in London) author and lawyer, M.L. Stedman’s, latest grand (in scale and achievement) novel, A Far-Flung Life, we are taken inside the intricacies and workings of a sheep station in the outback of Western Australia from European settlement in the 1800s. Most of the story, however, takes place from the year 1958 to the year 2000.

It is in the dusty, fiery-red earth of the voluminous state of Western Australia that the dependable and hard-working MacBride clan have settled. We are introduced to them in January 1958, but their ancestors arrived from ‘the Mother Country’ some time earlier. We are told that “The MacBrides took up country in Western Australia a few decades after the Swan River Colony was settled in 1829. Lyle MacBride and his brother Lachlan left behind their father’s modest sheep farm, braving the gruelling voyage from England with wives in tow, and over a couple of generations, their families fanned out across the west, as land opened up for grazing”.

From the novel’s beginning, we are informed that “The MacBrides had the touch, it was said: sensible but shrewd, careful but not mean. When fortunes allowed, they were ready donors to good causes both religious and secular. They made ideal neighbours: fair in disputes, practical in disasters; good husbanders of land who followed the best practice of the day. Whilst Lachlan’s lot drifted up north, descendants of Lyle stayed put on Meredith Downs and eventually increased its boundaries to just shy of a million acres, the maximum extent then allowed by law”.

Meredith Downs is also a sheep station that has books on which everything is documented (like all stations in Western Australia at that time). The books and documents include “the ledgers; the wool returns; the vermin records; the Field Book of Meteorological of Observations for the Bureau of Meteorology in Melbourne; the cricket score books; and the little greasy shearing tally books…

“Fast forward to 1958, and the MacBride family residing on Meredith Downs consist of practical patriarch Phil, demonstrably capable matriarch, Lorna, adventurous and rowdy sons, Warren and Matt (twenty-two and seventeen years old respectively) and feisty daughter, Rose (twenty years old).

Tragedies often occur in the seemingly most benign of situations. And such an unforeseen, but eternally lethal, tragedy occurs in January 1958 when Phil (driving a truck with Warren and Matt in the vehicle) swerves to miss a kangaroo. This one act causes a catastrophic accident. An accident that will change all of the MacBrides’ futures forever. 

Will any of the MacBride men survive the accident? If so, what state will they be in? Will Warren end up taking over the sheep station from his father as was always the succession plan or will Phil MacBride run the property into old age?

Will Rose fulfill her dreams of travelling to England? She confides in the dashing young Englishman, Miles Beaumont, who is helping out on the station after the car accident that she would like to. Is Miles who he seems to be? He is the son of an English Lord so why is he living and working on Meredith Downs? Does Rose’s crush on him come to anything?

What becomes of Lorna? Will the fearsome aftermath of the car accident destroy Lorna or will she ‘just get on with it’? What secrets are Pete Peachey, the mysterious kangaroo shooter employed by the MacBrides, hiding? He was a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese in World War Two and has the whip marks on his back to prove it. What terrible things has Pete seen and heard in the prison camp, a place he has never totally left behind.

Why does Rose run away and how does her ‘rescuer’, Dr Finbar Rafferty, fit in to the picture? Who is Dr Linto and what is his connection to the MacBrides? Who is Matt’s friend from school called Hughie ‘Humpty’ Dumpton? Humpty’s family own a huge sheep station too and Humpty wants to play cricket for Australia one day. Does he achieve his dream? Who is the busybody postmistress, Myrtle Eedle, and why is she so obsessed with everybody in the district and knowing their secrets (she keep a little book to document things) and what they are doing (or have done)? Why does she go to every funeral in the area and note it in her book? Why does she fervently tend her Lorraine Lee rosebush to the extreme? What are Myrtle’s secrets?What do we know about Sneaky Snook who drives the mail truck? How much does he feature in the story? Who is the outspoken Bonnie? Who are the Hollamby Mining Company and how will they impact Meredith Downs?

Who are Sergeants Rundle and Wisheart and what are they trying or not trying to uncover about the MacBrides and the Wanderrie Creek area?Who is the loveable Andy and where does he fit into things?

I simply loved and devoured this book. You will need the tissues handy as there are gut-wrenching topics and happenings covered that will cause the tears to flow. Intelligence, wisdom and sharp insight into the human psyche and condition embrace every page.

I also recommend M. L. Stedman’s prior book “The Light Between Oceans”. It is also a superb read and was made into a wonderful film starring the phenomenally talented Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander. 

Bravo M. L. Stedman! A Far-Flung Life is an exceptionally great book. I was drawn into a world and time that was wonderfully described and detailed. And the characters became friends. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Put it on your summer reading list (if you reside in the northern hemisphere) or winter reading pile (if you reside in the southern hemisphere). This is a five star read.