The harshness of the Australian frontier is brought into vivid detail with this collection of diaries and letters from women living in the Outback. Their inspiring accounts, framed by contextual and biographical commentary, unveil the rawness, solitude, and intensity of the pioneer's existence. Full of passion, pleasure, pain, and loss, this anthology will both captivate and demystify the stereotypical ideas of bush life. Correspondents include: Anna Cook and Ellen Moger; Louisa Clifton; Annie Baxter; Penelope Selby; Louisa Geoghegan, M.A. Oliver, Ellen Ollard, Rosa Payne; Ann Williams and Lucy Jones; Sarah Davenport and Mary Jane Macgregor.