I love it when a new book comes my way by a serendipitous route. This one was a present from my daughter’s mother-in-law, with us for a short while over the Xmas period. She’d finished it so handed it to me rather than take it back on that long flight to Tasmania.

It’s an absorbing read and there are elements some will undoubtedly find difficult. Essentially, this is a saga, but it is deeply soaked in symbolism and carries the theme of connections to an elevated level. Ostensibly, the book is about the creation of a railway line from Adelaide to Darwin, Australia. But it is so much more than this. It is a romance, a history, an adventure. It is also an examination of the prejudices, injustices, violence, and brutality that has bedevilled the indigenous aboriginal peoples of this extraordinary land ever since the first transported convict was shipped there with his authoritarian overseers.

The relationship between those who had occupied the land for over 40,000 years and the newcomers determined to claim the place as their own was always difficult. Religion, culture, western versions of civilisation, and the toxic mix of power and profit, together condemned both aboriginals and settlers to the most uneasy cohabitation. That those first immigrants were mostly convicted criminals (many of whom had been sentenced for the most trivial misdemeanours) led by men who sought power, control, and personal elevation, set the tone for an invasion that was never likely to create harmony.

There is a thread of romance running through the book that lifts it above the general background of injustice. I found the introduction of new characters a little unsettling the first time I encountered it, but it was quickly clear that the author was employing a necessary device to incorporate the theme of connections. Once I understood that link, I found the book totally absorbing. Only the vagaries of post-Xmas life and various other essential calls on my time prevented me reading this story at a single sitting. Certainly, it is a page-turner.

The characters, diverse, richly depicted, and so true to life, were easy to understand and empathise with, even those who acted despicably. People have reasons for their cruelty, lack of understanding, prejudices, ignorance, and moods, and here I encountered no character I found without enough background to bring them to life on the page.

For me, this book also cast light on a mystery that had plagued me for all the years I’ve been an atheist. I won’t explain that here, as it is an integral aspect of the denouement and I’ve no wish to spoil the journey for other readers. Those with insight will probably feel that moment of enlightenment in the same way I did. It illuminated my view of certain beliefs in an unexpected way that allows me now to see how some basic creation stories may have come about in truth long before those who distorted them for personal power and control did their uncaring damage.

I found the novel fascinating, engaging, sometimes difficult, illuminating, humorous, and moving. I have no hesitation in recommending it to all who read above the level of superficiality.

[Any review is a personal opinion. No reviewer can represent the view of anyone else. The best we can manage is an honest reaction to any given book.]