When Rafael de Grenade arrives at Stilwater Station, a remote cattle station along the Gulf of Carpentaria in Australia's Northern Territory, it has been abandoned for years. Its fences and facilities are in total disrepair and the thousands of cattle living on the station's property have gone all but feral. Stilwater's new owners, though, want it turned back into a profitable operation, and they've hired a new crew to round-up the stock and restore order.
Stilwater: Finding Wild Mercy in the Outback (Milkweed Editions, paperback) is de Grenade's account of a season spent as part of that station crew. In an arid, inhospitable landscape rife with dingoes, deadly snakes and saltwater crocodiles, she takes part in the often brutal work of mustering hundreds of head of cattle alongside a motley, rugged crew. Fans of Helen Macdonald's hit H Is for Hawk will find much to enjoy in this beautifully written, poetic inquiry into humanity's relationship with the wild. --Alex Mutter