Xavier Herbert Libri

Spanning three generations Capricornia tells the story of Australia's North. It is a story of whites and Aborigines and Asians of chance relationships that can form bonds for life, of dispossession, murder and betrayal. In 1904 the brothers Oscar and Mark Shillingsworth, clad in serge suits and bowler hats, arrive in Port Zodiac on the coast of Capricornia. They are clerks who have come from the South to join the Capricornian Government Service. Oscar prospers and takes to his new life as a gentleman. Mark, however is restless and takes up with old Ned Krater, a trepang fisherman, who tells him tales of the sea and the islands introduces him to drink and boasts of his conquests of Aboriginal women - or 'Black Velvet' as they are called. But it is Mark's son, Norman, whose struggles to find a place in the world, embody the complexities of Capricornia itself.

Xavier Herbert was a prolific and entertaining letter writer. Although many of his letters survive, few have been published. They reveal a reclusive and deeply insecure man who relied on mail as a lifeline and a way of drawing attention to himself. At another level the letters show a concern for Aborigines.

Set in 1940s Sydney, the story explores the lives of women whose partners are off to war, leaving them to navigate a world filled with transient American G.I.s. Amidst the backdrop of conflict, Ida, Rosa, Fay, and Patricia embrace the excitement and glamour brought by the soldiers, shedding their inhibitions in a quest for joy and connection. The narrative captures their urgent desire for fun and the complexities of love and loyalty during tumultuous times.

Monumentální sága rodiny Shillingsworthů jejíž pestrý a vzrušující děj polarizuje mezi burleskností a tragédii, v níž je vylíčeno gründerské období osidlování panenských území Austrálie.