As a young Tasmanian on ‘the mainland’ Rachael saw a profound disconnection emerging between the land and women in the growing culture of modern industrial agriculture.

She set her sights on becoming a rural journalist and writing a bestseller that would showcase contemporary rural women, who were comfortable in, and caring of, their farming landscape. Her first novel, ‘Jillaroo’ (2002) has become an iconic contemporary work of fiction, changing the face of Australian publishing and kick-starting a boom of rural women’s fiction.