All hell breaks loose when a white heiress living in the Northern Territory gives birth to a dark baby in Moira McKinnon's debut novel Cicada.
It's some time after the first world war. Australia has recently shrugged off the shackles of colonialism and become a nation, but prejudices remain.
"I do not really know if savages have souls" says an Irish priest, while others lament that "primitive people have no heaven to go to".
Those attitudes set the scene for the turmoil that ensues when English heiress Emily Lidscombe becomes the mother of a black-eyed son whose skin is the colour of raw bush honey.
Emily is forced to flee her husband's murderous rage with her Aboriginal maid, once the subject of her mistress' disdain, now her equal.
Their journey across the desert while being hunted is not just about survival, but the special bond newcomers to Australia develop with the land.
Cicada is a tale of endurance enriched by the author's experience working in remote Aboriginal communities in the Kimberley.
*Cicada, Moira McKinnon. Published by Allen and Unwin in March 2014. RRP $29.99.
