Fortunes of Fire

Born in 1799 en route to Australia on board the Speedy, his convict mother dies and William Barsden is saved in the nick of time from a watery grave by Anna King, the wife of Governor Philip King. The Kings become his mentors and he is brought up in the shadows of Parramatta's Government House. At fifteen William goes to sea on a sandalwood trader, but argues with the captain and jumps ship in Tahiti. There he is a hero in the island's Christian civil war. Rewarded, he marries a princess. He returns to Australia to become a prominent wool baron west of the Blue Mountains. Through his association with the wife of his eternal foe, and neighbour, Augustus Castleman, he befriends the infamous Windradyne of the Wiradjuri Aborigines, heeding their dire warning of an impending drought. Augustus and his cronies do not. William finally gets his revenge on the greedy Castlemans in the ensuing tragedy dealt by nature's hand. This sweeping saga of adventure on the high seas, island warfare, intrigue, forbidden love, and an unexpected reunion is told against the backdrop of the harsh and unforgiving conditions of colonial Australia, and the idyllic setting of the Tahitian islands.