Starting From Now

Fleur McDonald

PRAISE FOR

Starting From Now

‘Themes of love, loss, grief, family ties and animal activism are explored in this engrossing read focusing on regional Australia … McDonald’s characters are meaty and con-vincing and she has a skill of depicting rural life and the sense of community that is often embedded in country areas.’ Weekly Times

‘McDonald continues to introduce engaging and enjoyable new characters throughout this interlinked series … The author’s own experience gives readers a true sense of “life on the land” and the fragility of rural Australia and its communities.’ Debbish

‘McDonald delivers another top notch novel, her best yet, in Starting From Now. A story of family, duty, rural crime, journalism, activism and advances in farming enterprises, all wrapped up in a shroud of mystery. Starting From Now is a highly commendable novel from a talented Australian storyteller.’ Mrs B’s Book Reviews

Fleur McDonald has lived and worked on farms for much of her life. After growing up in the small town of Orroroo in South Australia, she went jillarooing, eventually co-owning an 8000-acre property in regional Western Australia.

Fleur likes to write about strong women overcoming adversity, drawing inspiration from her own experiences in rural Australia. She has two children, an energetic kelpie and a Jack Russell terrier.

Website: www.fleurmcdonald.com

Facebook: FleurMcDonaldAuthor

Instagram: fleurmcdonald

OTHER BOOKS

Red Dust

Blue Skies

Purple Roads

Silver Clouds

Crimson Dawn

Emerald Springs

Indigo Storm

Sapphire Falls

The Missing Pieces of Us

Suddenly One Summer

Fool’s Gold

Where the River Runs

Without a Doubt

Red Dirt Country

The Shearer’s Wife

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

This edition published in 2020

First published in 2019

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. The Australian Copyright Act 1968 (the Act) allows a maximum of one chapter or 10 per cent of this book, whichever is the greater, to be photocopied by any educational institution for its educational purposes provided that the educational institution (or body that administers it) has given a remuneration notice to the Copyright Agency (Australia) under the Act.

Allen & Unwin

83 Alexander Street

Crows Nest NSW 2065

Australia

Phone: (61 2) 8425 0100

Email: [email protected]

Web: www.allenandunwin.com

ISBN 978 1 76087 860 3

eISBN 978 1 76087 279 3

Set by Bookhouse, Sydney

Cover design: Nada Backovic

Cover photographs: Getty Images

Peter ‘Windy’ Gale: in memory of our beautiful friend

7 September 1967–6 April 2019

‘The sun has set; the horizon aglow,