Dust Off the Bones

de Paul Howarth

After their family's cattle farm is attacked in the 1890s Australian Outback, two estranged brothers reunite to attempt to revive the business and are called to testify after a reprisal slaughter is perpetrated against the Kurrong. 1890. Estranged brothers Tommy and Billy McBride are living far apart in Queensland, each dealing with the trauma that destroyed their family in different ways. Now 21, Billy bottles his guilt and justifies his past crimes while attempting to revive his father's former cattle run and navigate his feelings for the young widow Katherine Sullivan. Katherine, meanwhile, cherishes her newfound independence but is struggling to establish herself as head of the vast Broken Ridge cattle empire her corrupt late husband mercilessly built. When a judicial inquest is ordered into the McBride family murders and the subsequent reprisal slaughter of the Kurrong people, the inquest forces Billy to relive events he has long refused to face. He desperately needs to find his brother, Tommy, who for years has been surviving in the wilderness, attempting to move on with his life. -- adapted from jacket