A young English woman arrives in the alien landscape of Western Australia from the gentle green slopes and chalk cliffs of Kent. Is it any wonder she feels lost? This memoir details Probert’s efforts to belong, following her travels from west to east coasts.

Probert is an academic and was lured to Perth to assume a position at Murdoch University. Her scholarly background informs her writing. The memoir is infused with quotes from, and references to, books she has absorbed in her journey to better understand this country. George Seddon, Tom Griffiths and Don Watson feature heavily.

The landscape can feel alien to most (Australian-born or not) and those who have travelled the Nullarbor Plain may appreciate the desolate vastness of the country.

She purchased 28 acres in the Otway Ranges which is naturally a haven for birdlife. The wildlife can be dangerous and the land lends itself to Gothic tropes. Probert writes of the horror of bushfires and the devastation of drought and the connection she feels to communities, rather than the country itself.

There is a disturbing undercurrent of superiority though, claiming that ‘… so much of Australian wealth has been easily won’, without noting that much wealth in her homeland is ‘won’ by birthright. Disputed loyalties aside, the writing is informative without becoming profound.

Reviewed by Bob Moore