Knockabout Girl : A Memoir

The Outback has its own rules. Some are made to be broken. Some you have to write yourself. When 23-year-old Pip Newling arrived in the remote West Australian town of Halls Creek, the locals gave her 24 hours - tops - before she'd be back on the bus to Sydney.

But Pip stayed - and as she served beers, shared jokes and swapped stories with the townspeople, she discovered a side of Australia most of us never get to see.

From the tragic to the sublime to the downright ridiculous, KNOCKABOUt GIRL is a compelling, confronting journey into a heart of ribald darkness.

Quick-witted and always ready with a grin, Pip takes us beyond the stereotypes with humour and compassion.

We meet Sunny, Pip's exuberant partner in crime, and Jean-Paul, the fabulous French hairdresser whose dry sardonic wit matches the dfyness of the desert. there's Harry, the Shakespeare-quoting prospector, and Eric, the local playboy with a disturbing history. throw in a riot, a rodeo and a couple of road-tripping nuns and you're starting to get the picture...