A Very Different Girl
by
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Seumas carefully got to his feet, and kept his eyes slightly downcast. Then, within his peripheral vision, he saw Lawson pulling back his right fist. Immediately, he stepped inside the big foreman’s arms, and savagely lifted his right knee into Lawson’s groin. The big man gasped audibly, and then slowly sank to his knees; his face white and contorted with pain.
“You’re a filthy–tempered bastard,” Seumas quietly said, before heading off to pick up his severance pay.
The fact that he now had no job didn’t concern Seumas. After all, weren’t the newspapers always carrying on about the need to bring out more migrants; to fill all the jobs that’d been created by Australia’s booming, post-war economy? Now nineteen, Seumas was chock-full of the unbridled optimism of youth.
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About the Book
For a young man fresh out of the military in post–World War II Australia, life is hard and uncertain. Seumas, an unworldly young man, does what he can to survive and struggles to find hope for the future. When he meets Narelle, a young, embittered prostitute, he finds himself strangely and powerfully attracted to her—and his interest is enthusiastically returned.
Set against a gritty background in Sydney in the 1950s and beyond, their romance is a poignant one, as the two struggle to find a way to make their dreams come true amid the proliferation of widespread and illegal gambling. But when their fantasy is ruptured by the many difficulties they face, Seumas finds that he can’t handle it. He runs away to Australia’s tropical north and finds work as a stockman on a large cattle run.
His new life forces him to grow up quickly, but even his budding maturity and perspective can’t erase Narelle from his dreams. The long, lonesome hours on the range inspire his imagination, and he finds himself wondering what might happen if he returned to Sydney—and her arms.
Far away in the city, Narelle faces a similar challenge. Try as she might, she can’t get on with her life without Seumas, and her grief forces her to grow up a bit too quickly as well.
Theirs is an uplifting, unforgettable, and very poignant romance set in a stunningly beautiful, wild, and unforgiving land and in a time long past.
About the Author
On returning to Sydney, Australia, in the late 1950s, Jim Nicolson found work with a prominent and illegal bookmaker within a well-known red-light district. He has also spent years working with cattle and horses. He is the author of Long Creek, published by iUniverse in 2010. Nowadays, he lives in Melbourne, Australia.