It is 1962 and, at 19, Katherine Forster wants to find a husband. She decides to join her publican parents when they buy the only hotel in an outback railway town where rumour has it, men outnumber women, ten to one. But nothing is as she hopes.
Katherine fears for her sanity as she is drawn into a vortex of family dysfunction, hard men, garrulous older women, frontier violence and rape. Aboriginal friends provide succour but, when tragedy strikes, she must choose a way forward.
The Publican's Daughter is a poignant tale of a young girl's brutal awakening through dashed expectations, betrayal, and loss at a time when sexism and racism flourished. With compassion and clarity, this debut novel offers a unique insight into the Australian outback, seen through the eyes of a naïve city girl.