Summers Chronicle

After his parents die, John Summers grows up on his relatives' sheep grazing property situated in central western New South Wales. Although treated as an outcast by his adoptive family, John has a close relationship with his grandmother, who holds a mysterious secret relating to John's past. Tired of his treatment by the family, John, aged 18, pilfers a considerable sum of money from his grandmother and disappears. He spends time exploring properties to purchase in New South Wales, finally buying a rundown cattle property near Cooma. His guilt consumes him as he accumulates properties and builds his own dynasty, marrying a compliant woman and having children, who also follow in John's footsteps. All the time, John fears facing the consequences of his shocking theft and guilt weighs heavily on him. He sets in train many events, all which have the potential for far-reaching ramifications into the future-for him as well as for others.

Jess was not meant to be, but her tenacity to overcome adversities moulded a personality determined to survive. In a twist of fate, Jess is forced to leave Sydney as a young teenager without a legal identity to make her home in a remote Kimberley cattle station in Western Australia. She deviously achieves notoriety through her talent for writing. The story follows her passage to womanhood, which includes her connection with a motley crew of cattlemen and interaction with a handful of Aboriginal people who live the traditional way of life of their ancestors. Revelations of her mysterious misdemeanours, and fame as a writer, lead to her re-entanglement with the dark forces that made it necessary for her to leave Sydney. This sets off a chain of events including a court case that Jess faces with the help from those who seek justice.

In his twilight years, John Summers reflects on his significant collection of assets, mostly centred on his extensive grazing enterprises in New South Wales. But his wealth is the product of a vile theft as a young man, which he has not divulged to his family. Jess MacIntyre's chaotic life runs parallel to John's, but in another part of Australia. When she reluctantly heads south from the Kimberley region of Western Australia towards an uncertain future, she encounters Thomas, John's grandson, on his way from Queensland to forge a new life managing one of his grandfather's pastoral properties in NSW. Jessie's cattle management skills and chequered past intertwine with the lives of the much more sedate Summers family, with benefits for everyone. Her notorious past is eventually exposed, with an unexpected, life-changing outcome for Jess. However, although John shares with Jess a cryptic message from his past, he is less willing to reveal his guilty secret to his family.