In this volume, Leni Shilton offers us a woman’s exploration of loss and survival in a savagely beautiful landscape. The story of Bertha Strehlow - a brilliant observer and connector of people - explores years of endurance and loss as she and her anthropologist husband travelled central Australia in the early 20th century. Drawn from her diaries and years of research, Leni Shilton weaves Bertha’s tale in poetry of stark beauty, threaded through with a deep love of the unforgiving desert.

Winner - The 2020 Chief Minister's NT Book Award for Fiction