rhonda matheson-browne author

 A whisper of humour, clashes recklessly with evil and interweaves intricately like the tangled undergrowth of the Otway State Park rainforest, in Bush. Complex, life-changing decisions, collide in the cool climate ecosystems of the most south-western coastline of Australia. Love struggles to find life giving air, mateship is wind swept and complex relationships are crushed – some eroded like the sandstone cliff faces and the decomposing leaf litter underfoot.

Wattle is a middle-aged women, initially depicted as a stereotypical stay at home mother and wife in the affluent seaside resort town of Lorne, Victoria, Australia. Her burden of secrets is hidden from the close-knit community, until a chance discovery blows her camouflage of keeping her dysfunctional family in anonymity.

At the same time, a group of university friends are holidaying in the Aire Valley, in the Otway State Park. This is their first real holiday since getting “real jobs” and they are looking forward to relaxing in the seclusion of the mystical, enchanted river. While they have now entered the real world, the eruption of a previously subdued love triangle crashes desperately through the rainforest, shattering their group and their alliances forever.

Like the passion wines, that entangle themselves and suffocate the Australian rainforest, Bush is a story of strength, courage, loyalty and the idea that, to create a greater good and to save our endangered species, we need to break some rules, which are deeply rooted in our culture. These characters find themselves on an intoxicating course to change and the outcomes are breathtaking, heart breaking, terrifying and unexpected.