Reissue of a novel which won the 1987 Miles Franklin Award.
'What have you brought me Hester? What have you brought me from the shop?''I've brought Katherine, Father,' Miss Harper said. 'I've brought Katherine, but she's for me.'Miss Hester Harper, middle-aged and eccentric, brings Katherine into her emotionally impoverished life. Together they sew, cook gourmet dishes for two, run the farm, make music and throw dirty dishes down the well.
One night, driving along the deserted track that leads to the farm, they run into a mysterious creature. They heave the body from the roo bar and dump it into the farm's deep well. But the voice of the injured intruder will not be stilled, and, most disturbing of all, the closer Katherine is drawn to the edge of the well, the farther away she gets from Hester.