Beyond the Black Stump Author:Nevil Shute Stanton Laird, a young American geologist with a secret, comes to the Australian outback to search for oil. There he meets an unconventional farming family and falls in love with their Mollie Regan. However cultural differences between Stanton's and Mollie's worlds force the two lovers to make difficult decisions.
Shute is a gifted writer, and in this book does a creditable job of comparing the US to Australia, plus pointing out some interesting prejudices. I loved it.