Eucalyptus

''A masterpiece. A novel of high seriousness and higher playfulness'' Michael Hulse, Spectator

On a property in New South Wales, a man named Holland lives with his daughter, Ellen. As years pass and Ellen grows into a beautiful young woman, her father announces his decision: she will marry the first man who can name all the eucalypts, down to the last tree.

As suitors clamber to meet Holland''s challenge, Ellen encounters a strange young man among her father''s trees - a storyteller, with enchanting tales of faraway lands.

''Murray Bail is the warmest and quick-witted of storytellers. You will never forget what is at the heart of this book: one of the great and most surprising courtships in literature'' Michael Ondaatje