'When Fiona Collins meets Stuart Higgins at a conference in Melbourne, she isn't looking for a relationship, let alone the upheaval of falling for an eco-aware cotton farmer from South-East Queensland. But then life never goes quite according to plan.
When Stuart sends Fiona a pair of crusty old boots and a declaration of his feelings just sixteen days into their relationship, it's the start of a love story that endures - in spite of distance, the strain of Stuart's farm entering its fourth year of drought, and Fiona's own issues with commitment. Something's got to give and eventually Fiona puts everything on the line - her career, her Sydney life, her future - and moves to Stuart's farm. Nearest township? Jandowae, population 750. Here, Fiona encounters an Australia she's never really known, replete with snakes on the doorstep, frogs in the toilet, and the perils of the bush telegraph.
Gradually she begins to fall in love with rural life, but as Stuart struggles to balance commercial and environmental realities, she realises that farming isn't quite as simple as she'd imagined. Ultimately, Fiona has to learn how to cope with the devastating impact of the drought that grips the countryside, and what it means for Stuart, the farm, and their future together.' Source: www.loveintheageofdrought.com/ (Sighted 04/05/2009).
