Book excerpt: Sarjan is an Historical Novel that spans twenty-five years and two cultures, as it weaves a tale of the establishment of the Swan River Colony in Western Australia. It follows the lives of two young settler siblings, Sara Jane (Sarjan), William (Willem) and an Aboriginal boy (Yeddi) brought together in tragic circumstances. The adventures of these characters transport the reader from the 1829 arrival of Captain James Stirling and Thomas Peel with the first white settlers, to skirmishes with Aborigines (culminating in the Pinjarra massacre), to South Africa’s Cape Colony and back to the mother country in England, and a detour to the Victorian Goldfields, before returning to Fremantle. Sarjan is a story of pioneering spirit, hardship, adventure, fulfilment, heartaches and love, of the trials faced by those of conflicting cultures, and of the bonding that can occur despite different backgrounds. It has been described as ‘the best book ever read’ and ‘better than Thorn Birds’. Read it and you will understand why.