Funny and knowing, and terrifically well-written, 'Wings Of The Kite-Hawk' is a set of linked journeys into the Australian landscape: its past and present, its people and its half-remembered secrets.
In each chapter, Nicolas Rothwell takes a precursor and follows him. Not all the guides are great explorers of the past (Leichhardt, Sturt, Strehlow and Giles), but anthropologists and Hell's Angels; rodeo riders and Aboriginal artists.
Vivid characters weave in and out of the story, intersecting, leading him on. Conversations move through light, laughter and sadness, while the overlapping explorations examine the different states of mind and heart that affect us all: love, loss, friendship, fear.
Reminiscent of Bruce Chatwin's 'The Songlines', 'Wings Of The Kite-Hawk' will seduce and enthral and force you up from the comfy chair into the four-wheel drive.
