This book is a wonderful story, immersive and wild, transporting the reader straight into the lives of Biddy and Joe in the Australian bush. The story opens onto the scene of a mother (Joycie) and her baby (Joe) rowing across the ocean to a wild valley, leaving her family behind as she grieves for the loss of her husband and needs time alone. It continues 9 years later, in the life of Biddy, only daughter in a cattle farming family who live round the bay from Joycie's valley. When she is finally allowed to go on a muster (rounding up the family's cattle from the wild headland where they roam through the summer) with her mum and dad, tragedy strikes when her horse Bella gets stuck in quicksand and they have to leave her to the rising tide. When they go back the next day, they discover small footprints in the sand alongside Bella's, leading away from the beach. The ensuing search brings Bella and Joycie's little baby, now a boy and alone, together in the most heartwarming of ways. While he shares his home and shelters her for the night, she in return is able to bring him home to the family who thought they had lost him forever.

Lester brings to life the beauty, tranquility, and wildness of the headland in simple, stunning prose. It's a story for any horse lover, dog lover, wilderness seeker, or adventurer - a truly deserving classic!