Redstone Station

by Therese Creed

Alice Day is happy to be returning home to Redstone Station after two years at Agriculture College. During various placements at farms and stations during her time at college she was shocked at the second-class status of women workers, whereas her grandfather, Sam, who owns Redstone, has always treated her as an equal. For his part, Sam is delighted to have his granddaughter back on board. In shaping Alice he tried to avoid the mistakes he'd made with her mother, Lara, and she has lived up to his high expectations, graduating from Ag College with flying colours. He now sees Alice as his last chance to preserve his beloved station and successfully take it into the future. Exceptionally hard-working, with great horsemanship, an instinctive understanding of animals and a natural aptitude for farming, Alice is determined to justify her grandfather's faith in her. But will her budding regard for one of the stockmen throw her, and the future of Redstone, off track?

Genres: Romance, Australia

368 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2013

About the author

Therese Creed grew up in Sydney, one of nine children. From an early age she loved horses and a dream of one day living in the bush. After leaving school she became a primary school teacher for four years before deciding to take a break and spend some time riding a trail from Victoria to Queensland. During a 5-month pit-stop she met a local farmer, Cedric Creed, who joined her riding further north to Cooktown. After marrying Cedric Therese became involved in the running of the family cattle station. She now knows a fair bit about fighting fires, pulling windmills, driving trucks and tractors, shoeing horses and fencing. She now divides her time between helping out on the station and bringing up her four young children. Her first novel, Redstone Station, was a bestseller.

Reviews

[Shelleyrae at Book'd Out · Rating 3 out of 5]

Debut rural fiction author Therese Creed writes from experience. She married a farmer and lives and works on the family's 17,000 acre cattle station in central Queensland.
In Redstone Station, Sam and Olive Day, struggling with failing health and growing debt, welcome the return of the grand daughter, who was essentially abandoned by her young unwed mother, that they raised. Eighteen year old Alice has finished Ag college and is ready to devote herself to reviving her grandparents farm, desperate to repay their love and faith in her. Willing to work hard, with a natural aptitude for stock handling and farm management, Alice refuses to be distracted from her goals, especially by troublemaker Jeremy O'Donnell.

The strength of Redstone Station definitely lies within its accurate depiction of everyday life on a cattle station. Fencing, mustering and maintenance are all daily chores punctuated by seasonal work such as calving, weaning and branding. It's hard, physical work that requires both brute force and an intimate knowledge of a farm's operational needs. The work ethic is something to be admired and I think Creed does an excellent job of creating an authentic setting for her story and characters.

I'm not entirely sure about the plot of Redstone Station as I thought there seemed to be a lack of focus. Alice's day to day life on the station is the strongest feature along with brief encounters with the challenges farmers face such as drought, feral animal attacks, bushfire, mining threats and the ever present financial strain, but there is no real sense of Alice ever really being in danger of losing Redstone. There is a subplot of sorts regarding her relationship with her biological parents, and her part aboriginal heritage. Though there is a development of a romantic relationship between Alice and Jeremy it is very low key for most of the novel, culminating in a rushed resolution that seems strangely old-fashioned. I just didn't think any of these ideas provided a strong enough direction or anchor for the story.

I don't think it helped that I had a hard time relating to Alice as I found her reserved nature to be off putting and awkward in someone so young. There are rare glimpses of a sense of humour, and there is no doubting her passion for the land, but otherwise Alice was far too self contained for me to develop an affinity with.
In contrast, Jeremy is open and 'out there'. Though I thought perhaps his personality was just a touch too exaggerated, I did enjoy his cheeky irreverence and his lack of 'filter' but I felt that in many ways he overwhelmed Alice as the primary protagonist.

Despite having a few issues with plot and character, I did enjoy Redstone Station. It is well written with natural dialogue and a strong Australian identity. Fans of rural fiction should particularly appreciate the genuine portrayal of life on a cattle station enjoy this new addition to the genre.

[Bree T · Rating 3 out of 5]

After 2 years at agricultural college, Alice Day is happy to be back home at Redstone, her grandparents huge property. She is full of exciting plans, things she has learned while she was at school and she can’t wait to implement them. Redstone has always been home to Alice and she appreciates that her grandfather treats her with respect, admiring her ideas and not assuming that she can’t do things just because she’s a woman. When she worked on farms during placements, she was surprised at the sexism she encountered and she’s grateful she was always raised to do anything she wanted.

To help out on the property and replace some of the aging stockmen who have worked there from before Alice was born, her grandfather Sam hires Jeremy (Jed) O’Donnell, the youngest son from a local family who is known for his wild-drinking and womanising ways. Despite Olive Day’s disapproval, Sam is convinced that the young lad deserves a chance and in the right environment, will thrive.

Sam, Alice and Jeremy made a solid team fencing, mustering, breeding and working on the farm. Despite his casual attitude and ribbing of Olive, Jeremy fits in and works hard. He makes casual overtures to Alice, who rebuffs him goodnaturedly. Alice knows his reputation and she thinks he’s not serious. Redstone is her first love and her priority. She knows that Olive and Sam are getting older and in slowly declining health and she wants to do as much as she can and make the farm as successful as possible. However as Alice will soon learn, a house and property are one thing – but it’s who lives and works on it that makes it a true home.

Back in the days I still lived with my parents, my Nan passed all her books on to me. She is a read once and discard reader whereas I am a hoarder. Now that I live interstate, she passes them onto my mother (a notoriously slow reader) who then passes them on to me when she’s done, if I want them. I am visiting my family due to the ill health of my grandfather and I immediately set about exploring my Nan’s stash of books, picking out this one immediately. It’s one of a few rural romance releases I haven’t read and so I was keen.

Redstone Station is very detailed on farm life – the daily routines of mustering, branding, castrating, milking, fencing etc. I got quite a clear picture of what life on the farm was like and I really enjoyed that because farming fascinates me (in theory!). I liked Alice’s rapport with animals and the way in which she devoted herself to them, which she seemed to have been gifted due to her partial Aboriginal heritage. Alice was raised by her grandparents when her young mother couldn’t deal with parenting and she has faced judgement, ridicule and outright bullying at her Catholic boarding school and even in the nearby town for being half Aboriginal. The casual racism in this book kind of surprised me because Aboriginal stockmen have not been unusual and I would’ve thought there’d be more tolerance in such a small town but obviously I am mistaken. Alice herself was very withdrawn and remote though – I didn’t get much of an idea about her except that she was passionate about the farm and that she deeply loved her grandparents. She didn’t seem to find much fun in things though, she seemed more fuelled by dedication, loyalty and duty.

However I am very sorry but I just did not like Jeremy. He annoyed me from beginning to end. I know he was young (Alice is 18 or 19 when this book starts and Jeremy is not much older I think) but that’s not really much of an excuse. For most of the book, he appears to be inhabited by the vocabulary of Alf Stewart from the TV show Home & Away. It’s all far too much “Struth!” and “fair dinkum” and “top sheilas” and “dinky-di” Aussie speak that drives me absolutely nuts to read. It’s not realistic and such blatant over the top ocker speak also ages the character enormously, which didn’t gel with the dribble that came out of his mouth most of the time. As Sam said “sometimes you go too far with your rot” except for me it wasn’t sometimes, it was all of the time. Who makes jokes to someone’s grandmother about sleeping with their granddaughter? It really wasn’t funny. Jeremy was a good worker and he had some flashes of sensibility but most of the time I found him just irritating. He and Alice had zero chemistry whatsoever. I feel that first and foremost the most important story in this book was the farm and that was well done and fleshed out but the secondary story of the budding “romance” between Alice and Jeremy felt very underdone. I never really got a sense of either of them developing a crush or feelings for the other. Jeremy made flirtatious remarks and occasionally propositioned Alice, Alice seemed to come to regard him rather fondly, but like someone might seem to look down on a rascally younger brother or something. This seems to remain the same for almost all of the book and then towards the end things suddenly develop at breakneck pace, but in passing. A lot of it happens “off the page”. I like to feel involved in a romance, like I have a good connection to the characters and feel invested in their outcome. Unfortunately I had zero investment in Alice and Jeremy and really didn’t care one way or another whether they got together or not.

[Vicki Basham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alice Day is happy to be returning home to Redstone Station after two years at Agriculture College. During various placements at farms and stations during her time at college she was shocked at the second-class status of women workers, whereas her grandfather, Sam, who owns Redstone, has always treated her as an equal. For his part, Sam is delighted to have his granddaughter back on board. In shaping Alice he tried to avoid the mistakes he'd made with her mother, Lara, and she has lived up to his high expectations, graduating from Ag College with flying colours. He now sees Alice as his last chance to preserve his beloved station and successfully take it into the future. Exceptionally hard-working, with great horsemanship, an instinctive understanding of animals and a natural aptitude for farming, Alice is determined to justify her grandfather's faith in her. But will her budding regard for one of the stockmen throw her, and the future of Redstone, off track?

[Kelly Dawson · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my all-time-favourite books, this is about the 3rd time I've read this, I think, and it just keeps getting better and better! I keep noticing things about both Jeremy and Alice that I didn't notice the first time, and even though I know what's going to happen and how the story ends, I can't stop turning the pages.
A fantastic read.

[Erin Rangi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful Novel

It took me a little to get to know the characters and then- well I was sitting here crying tears at times. Completely fell in love with them. A very well written novel that makes you feel.

[Aileen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great book showing how the determination of a young woman can make a go of the land. I admire Alice for not giving up when everything seemed to be against her at times. This book made me cry towards the end but also made me smile too.

[Natta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still to this day one of the best bush romances i have read!

This was one of the first books I read when I was getting into reading so I thought what better way to really get back into it after a couple months off. Did not disappoint!

[Sharlet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed reading this book!

[Jodi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A romance with a good Australian story

[Jill · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have finished with the book, not finished. 32 pages was enough.

[Erin Hughes · Rating 3 out of 5]

a good read but felt a bit stagnant here and there

[Jessica Schmidt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this story!!

The strength of these characters is amazing! I love a strong main female character especially in a farm life setting. A story after my own heart!

[Lauren Keegan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alice Day is a young woman who has finished her agricultural studies and has returned home to Redstone Station to work on the farm run by her grandparents. The farm is struggling financially and Alice has plenty of new ideas of how to turn around the viability of their livelihood in the long-term. Alice was abandoned by her young mother Lara as a child and was raised by her grandparents who were determined to not repeat the same mistakes with the next generation. Alice’s estranged father is of Aboriginal heritage and there’s much curiosity on Alice’s part about her the instincts she has with the land and animals that were thought to be inherited from her father. There’s an interesting relationship dynamic between Alice and her grandfather and her grandmother, which evolves throughout the story.

I suppose, for me, what let this story down was the characterisation of Alice. She’s a young girl, about 18 years old at the beginning of the story and she’s quiet and reserved. I can certainly relate to a shy protagonist, but I think Alice was quite difficult to work out because she was so guarded throughout most of the story. It was hard to really know how she felt about Jeremy, about her grandparents and about any situation that would normally invoke an emotional reaction. But Alice just kept her head down and kept working. This lack of emotional expression made it difficult for me to connect with her at these times. In some ways, she was a little too perfect. Her only flaw was guarding her emotions but the conflict within her as a character and that she faced in her day to day life was quite weak. Much of her time is spent on the farm, and though I enjoyed reading about her lifestyle there was no pressing suspense or tension.

Jeremy on the other hand is Alice’s polar opposite. He’s loud, boisterous and he speaks before he thinks. He’s not the typical hero I’d warm to in part because of his emotional immaturity and his promiscuity (he has a lot of lady ‘friends’) but I did think he was a robust and likeable character. I must admit, I did secretly want to see him reformed in some way… but that wouldn’t be fair to Jeremy’s character. Alice’s influence (and that of her grandparents) certainly challenged Jeremy’s priorities and how he viewed himself and the world and his developing maturity was a pleasant surprise. On the other hand I’m kind of glad that he didn’t have to change the essence of who he was to be eventually accepted by Alice (apart from the absence of his promiscuous behaviour- obviously that would be a deal breaker in a relationship!) though his behaviour did become quite destructive near the end. Jeremy is a flawed hero, but he brought life to the story and there were many times I laughed out loud when he would say aloud what everyone else was probably thinking in a scene but didn’t have the guts (or perhaps were to wise) to say. Jeremy was a great character who sometimes dominated the story, leaving shy Alice Day in the backdrop much of the time.

*Possible ending spoiler: I enjoyed seeing Alice step up and being open about her feelings at the end… I just wish it didn’t take 18 months (or 2 years?) for them to get their act together. I have a pet hate for prolonged separations between the hero and heroine during the last leg of a story and in the case of Redstone Station I just didn’t see what purpose it served compared to a separation of say 6 months.*

Overall, I really enjoyed Redstone Station.An engaging rural tale that does a great job at highlighting the realities of life on a farm and living in a rural town with a satisfactory happy ending for the romance fans.

[Paula · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite simply a nice read depicting everyday station life - the endless fencing to be done, the mustering/branding/weaning of the cattle, the training of the dogs and horses, wild animal attacks etc. Also depicted are the seasonal influences of drought, dust storms, bushfire and rain and also on a more personal level, that of the constant financial strain, racism and threats of being "taken over" for mining exploration.

I felt the story didn't really go anywhere and just plodded along depicting this station life. I actually found Alice a little hard to connect with as she just seemed too mature, wise and confident for her 19 years and lacked a certain amount of emotion. Jeremy on the other hand was larger than life, but underneath someone just wanting to be accepted, acknowledged and respected.

The story did have a satisfactory ending, but it felt very rushed in the last few pages and I found I was becoming impatient with the drawn out separation and basically just wanting the story to finish as I was becoming a little bored :(

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bought this book on Kindle as I was curious to read the book that was based on an area in Central Queensland.
Was a good, easy and subsequently fairly quick read.
Enjoyed the locality references as often books are placed in America or England.
I found the storyline somewhat predictable, but not too much.
The main character Alice was stoic but lovable and it was nice to see the heroine somewhat of a social outsider. I did find that some of the romantic references of how Jeremy was overcome with her a little bit corny and unrealistic.
She didn't seem to have any flaws which I thought made her that touch unreal and unrelatable.
But other than that, if this is the author's first time book, then that is an excellent job. I was engrossed whenever I read it, and in the sad parts I was surprised with the emotion it drew from me.
Overall a good read.

[Mandi · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author paints a detailed picture of the life and trials of farm life. Fighting fires, drought and other seasonal stresses, the constant job of fixing fences, keeping wild predators at bay, weaning cattle and the ongoing financial battle. The characters are faced with life changing loss, friendship, racial tension, love and misunderstandings. Despite all these challenges, they are really only looking to be accepted and respected.

For a full review go to http://blog.thatbookyoulike.com.au/on...

[Diane Eklund-Abolins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well written, this is a 'must read' for all those who want to know more about country Australia. It is obvious that the author knows her subject, and she is able to convey information about life in the bush with an ease, which adds to the flow of the novel. Humour acts as a foil to the difficulties and the tragedies met by those living on the land while occasional descriptive passages paint a vivid picture of Central Queensland.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you are after a fairly uninvolved read with a story that just hums along then this will suit. I enjoyed the depiction of station life but the majority of the story was basically that with a drawn out getting of wisdom on the behalf of the main characters. It is a story suited to those who like fairly straight forward narratives with minimal complexities. I was a bit disappointed as it had the potential to be much more engaging.

[Vivienne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I quite enjoyed this first novel written by my friend's sister even though romance is not really a genre I read. The story was fairly predictable, though, but I liked the country setting and descriptions of country life. The protagonist seemed a bit too 'good' and 'coy', which didn't seem that realistic in today's world.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely brilliant!!!! Tears throughout! Such beautiful story with links to the land and culture was lovely.

Thank you Therese for such enjoyment and emotion that this story evoked. Life's been a bit tough lately and reading this story has lifted my spirits and given such joy!

Highly recommend this amazingly glorious read!!!!

[Dyani · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this book! The whole story really beautifully summed up station life, and I liked that it didn't have the amounts of vulgar language etc that many of the other books in this genre have.

[Gillian Milne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable read about a talented, earthy young woman taking over the family station! Found it a bit slow and frustrating in places!

[Katrina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it, read in 24hrs!!

[Melanie Jensen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Australian read.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved it!

[Lydia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Spanning over a 4-5 year period, the book takes its time to really go nowhere in particular. Tragedies happen, a couple of good things, but more unhappy than happy.

[Kerri Fitzmaurice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. The author has an affinity with rural settings and characters.

[Moira · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed it.

Beautiful writing. Beautiful story. Beautiful characters. Beautiful everything.

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've not read a romance before but circumstances led to me reading this one. I thoroughly enjoyed the tale, especially descriptions of life on an Aussie farm.

[Chamomile · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good Aussie romance and hardship on a working station.