Chapter 2, Coorain Summary and Analysis

Conway's father had all of his savings invested in a block of land in the Western Division of New South Wales, land he received for being a soldier in 1929. His mother's savings equipped the house with necessities. Her father was excited to have his own land to raise his own livestock, though the isolation was a nightmare to her mother, as she had grown up in a comfortable town in Queensland. She had always lived in cities. Their eighteen thousand acres formed a different world.

Conway's father was born near Port Pirie in the 1890s and orphaned as a child. He started working as a miner at sixteen and the Catholic Church was a central part of his life. He eagerly fought in World War I in part because of his affection for his Lowland Scottish heritage and their...