The Feather and the Stone [Hardcover]

Patricia Shaw (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1994

The survivor of a shipwreck in which her parents are killed, Sibell Delahunty, a young British woman, struggles for love and security alone in the Australian outback during the 1870s.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Shaw ( River of the Sun ) spins a colorful, fast-paced saga set in Australia in the 1870s. Lively plotting and sound characterization enhance the tale of Sibell Delahunty, orphaned by a shipwreck that tosses her onto the beach with handsome, amoral Logan Conal. After being rescued from a band of hostile aborigines by a kind native named Jimmy Moon, the two make their way to Perth and part company. Having been mistreated by the family that takes her in, Sibell flees to an isolated outback station owned by the Hamilton clan. There her mettle is tested further as she encounters kindness as well as deception from the Hamiltons, finds brutality among settlers and natives and deals with thievery, death, fires and devastating cyclones. She meets up with Logan again and falls in love with him; Jimmy Moon is a constant presence--a "noble savage" who wears an emu feather and a stone from a secret site around his neck. Sibell survives betrayal and further tragedy before the somewhat anticlimactic resolution of this frontier adventure.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

This novel by Australian novelist Shaw ( River of the Sun , LJ 11/15/92) will remind readers of the ever-popular Thorn Birds and should prove to be a success. The time is the 1870s. Young Sibell Delahunty is shipwrecked after the vessel carrying her family to Australia sinks just off its coast. Her parents do not survive the disaster, and pampered, husband-hungry Sibell is forced to place her trust in a dirty, obviously lower-class man in order to reach Perth, the nearest large town. With its examination of a small group of Aborigines the couple encounter on their adventures, this part of the story is fascinating. Sibell eventually makes her life at a cattle station in the Australian outback and develops marvelously from spoiled child to strong, mature woman. Character development is good throughout, but this book will be remembered for its outstanding treatment of Australian history.
- Bettie Alston Spivey, Charlotte-Mecklenburg P.L., N.C.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 312 pages
• Publisher: St Martins Pr; 1st U.S. ed edition (January 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312104626
• ISBN-13: 978-0312104627
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,277,000 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Will not buy from seller again, March 25, 2011

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Michele A. Bouchard "New Kindle2 Owner" (Florida) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Feather and the Stone (Hardcover)

Item was not in condition described. It is an old library book in very used condition. I would not use this vendor again. Item went from the package to the trash.

Very disappointed!