This is a story of a family which links two cultures: that of the white Australian settlers of north west Queensland, and that of the First Nations culture.
Book One of the Shangri-la Trilogy presents us with an unconventional family. Max Fielding had married a young Aboriginal girl, daughter of an Aboriginal couple who helped him run his property. This was not considered socially acceptable so the family is a little isolated and self-contained. His wife died in childbirth, but Max is extremely proud of his beautiful daughter, Stella Rose. She is educated at boarding school, and her dream is to continue to manage the property sustainably.
But on the day she arrives home from her last term at high school, a young policeman, Peter, her brother's friend, arrives with a horse. He falls in love with Stella at first sight, and must choose between his career and a future with her, because he knows she will never leave the property.
The only member of the family not interested in the station life is Stella's son, Justin, who dreams of becoming an artist or a writer. On completing high school, he is uncertain of his future. He and a mate hitch a ride to the Northern Territory, and Justin, living under an assumed name, continues his self-imposed exile for over a year, until his father finds him and brings him home, just in time to farewell his dying grandfather.
The second book in the Trilogy, "Justin's Quest", continues Justin's quest for his identity, and purpose in life, told in his own words.