Fast-moving story set in Australian grazing land

In An Uncommon Woman,  Nicole Alexander continues to roam over the Australian Outback.

AN UNCOMMON WOMAN
Nicole Alexander
Penguin Random House

By WILLIE CAMPBELL

In her eighth novel, Nicole Alexander  continues to roam over well known  territory; Australian grazing land, and the challenges and rewards of living and working there.

Her descriptions of the terrain, the patterns of growth, the changing light and the seasonal  particularities serve to place the reader in that space and give an almost visual setting for the story and those in it.

Edwina Baker is the second child in a grazier family and as such must defer to both her father and brother as to  daily functioning and expectations of role and status. For a female the way ahead is clear; marriage, children and lending domestic support to the males. While growing into this she is a regular hand on the farm and dresses in male working clothes. She is portrayed as the sharper and smarter of the two young ones and frustrated by her father, who ignores her suggestions.

All this leads her to take risks to enlarge her own opportunities. The encounters with the pricklypear cutters, the neighbours, the Chinese work teams and the local aboriginal people serve to both encourage and thwart her ambitions. Eventually, she manages to buy a pastoral property, something unheard of for a woman.

The story moves at a fast pace,  although there are regular pauses for reflection. It keeps interest, as the characters are very real and credible. Alexander does focus on issues for this young woman that highlight the challenges for Australian settlers in the 1930s. Her fans will appreciate this offering.

- Willie Campbell is a Dunedin educator.