Wildhorse Creek
Kerry McGinnis
“Wildhorse Creek” is the second novel from Kerry McGinnis , set in the Gulf Country it follows the story of Billy Martin, a young man seeking out a new life for himself in the vast and wild open wilderness among a handful of colourful characters who inhabit the unpredictable but alluring land.
Billy arrives in the Gulf Country during the time when fencing of the open country began, starting out working for the well respected Coopers at Mount Ixion before finding his place with the disliked Reilly’s on Wildhorse Creek. It is here that we see love blossom slowly between Billy and Jo Reilly. The romance is held back by the family’s complicated history, her fiercely close relationship with her twin brother Cub and the relentless demands that working this country place on them all. The narrative is historically accurate throughout with references to real life weather events such as cyclones and floods, giving those of us who have never experienced such happenings an insight into the wonder and horror of it all.
Whilst the story takes an easy pace there are enough surprising events along the way to keep the reader interested and the descriptions of the seasons and the landscape bring to mind beautifully a place that most of us will never experience.
Kerry McGinnis and her family travelled extensively across the Northern Territory and Queensland before settling on a station in the Gulf Country and worked in a variety of roles before eventually running a property at Bowthorn, near Mount Isa so we can be assured that the picture that she paints so beautifully of the landscape and of the lives of her characters who work and live there year in and year out is an accurate one.
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