Which is the greater mystery: the breeding habits of the platypus or the workings of the human heart?
In 1883, young British naturalist William Caldwell arrives in Australia with a mission: to determine for the scientific record whether platypuses really are egg-laying. But first he must travel overland to the Burnett River in Queensland, where he intends to set up camp. On his journey he is by turns hindered and assisted by a cast of characters, including a drunken bullocky and an inscrutable, poetical bushman. Once there, William commences his investigation and encounters the local Aboriginal people, enlisting their help and ultimately learning their tragic history. He also meets a young blind woman with many closely held secrets of her own.
'Love and the Platypus' is a delightful, captivating novel that examines the obsessive nature of scientific enquiry and its environmental consequences, and the wonders of nature and of romantic love.
