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Down the Dirt Roads

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Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Down the Dirt Roads by Rachael Treasure is a heartfelt memoir that chronicles the author's journey of embracing change and resilience in the face of personal and rural challenges. Set against the backdrop of the Australian countryside, it explores themes of healing, environmental stewardship, and the pursuit of a more sustainable and fulfilling life. Through her experiences, Treasure offers insight into the importance of reconnecting with nature and the land.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might enjoy this memoir if you're drawn to stories of resilience and connection with the land. The author shares her journey of personal growth and transformative experiences in rural farming life, offering an inspiring and authentic look at how the landscape and lifestyle have shaped her.

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Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

'For me, being in a paddock means anything is possible ...'

Country girl and bestselling novelist Rachael Treasure had worked hard to build a long-dreamed-of lifestyle on her own patch of dirt in Tasmania's rugged and beautiful wilderness. But through the breakdown of her marriage, Rachael lost her family farm and, in her words, lost her way in life.

Discovering an all-new compass to live by, she took her two kids and her dogs and left the beaten path. Intensive farming, men on the land, and women in the homeβ€”everywhere Rachael looked, she saw ongoing harm to the soil and the food chain.

By going down the dirt roads and getting back to grassroots, she discovered another set of stories about country life in Australia, and a different way to live on the land. From her rebel granny to pioneering farmers and passionate animal handlers, Rachael became inspired by fresh ways to do things.

Down the Dirt Roads starts as a heartfelt and moving insight into the life of a single mother displaced from her home, and becomes a groundbreaking and powerful book about healing, health, and hope. Nourishing and sustaining, it presents a practical and positive vision of what life on our land could become.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780143786429

Publisher: Penguin Random House Australia

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 17 July 2017

Country: Australia

Imprint: Penguin Random House Australia

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 21.0mm

Width: 129.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 260g

Pages: 320

About the Author

Rachael Treasure gets as excited about microbial activity in the soil as she does by beautiful storytelling. By combining her love for the land and the written word, Rachael sparked a publishing boom in 2002 when her first novel Jillaroo woke the world up to contemporary women's stories beyond the city lights. Rachael lives in Southern rural Tasmania and is a full time mother to two young humans and many eccentric animals. She has been dubbed an agricultural activist, farm feminist and literary pioneer and has worked as a rural journalist, radio broadcaster, truffle sniffer dog handler, professional wool classer, stock camp cook, drover, farm manager and working dog trainer. Her stories have inspired thousands of young and old rural non-readers to read and love books. Her novels since Jillaroo include The Stockmen, The Rouseabout, The Cattleman's Daughter, The Farmer's Wife and Cleanskin Cowgirls. Her short story collections include The Girl and the Ghost-Grey Mare and Fifty Bales of Hay. Non-fiction works include Don't Fence Me In - Grassroots Wisdom from a Country Gal, and a working dog training book, Dog Speak. Her screenplay Albert's Chook Tractor was filmed for SBS Independent TV in the Fingal Valley, Tasmania and is now available as a DVD. She has also co-written songs with Nationally and internationally successful country rock band The Wolfe Brothers. Her latest 'Agricultural Adults Only' colouring book, 50 Bales of Hay, is proving a hit with cheeky farmers and is available at www.rachaeltreasure.com

Also by Rachael Treasure

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  • Jillaroo
    After a terrible argument with her father over their family property, Waters Meeting, Rebecca Saunders throws her swag in the ute and heads north with her three dogs. A job as a jillaroo takes her into the rowdy world of B&S balls, Bundy rum, and boys. When she at last settles down to a bit of study at agricultural college,...
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  • Milking Time
    The gorgeously funny, uplifting and entertaining new novel from Rachael Treasure, author of iconic, bestselling and much-loved stories of Australian rural life, including Jillaroo and The Farmer's Wife. Longlisted for the Premier's Prize for Fiction, Tasmanian Literary Awards 2025 Connie Mulligan, daughter of a fourth-generation Tasmanian dairy farmer, feels like she doesn't belong - anywhere. She's got big dreams and...
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  • Milking Time
    The gorgeously funny, uplifting and entertaining new novel from Rachael Treasure, author of iconic, bestselling and much-loved stories of Australian rural life, including Jillaroo and The Farmer's Wife. Longlisted for the Premier's Prize for Fiction, Tasmanian Literary Awards 2025 Connie Mulligan, daughter of a fourth-generation Tasmanian dairy farmer, feels like she doesn't belong – anywhere. She's got big dreams and...
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  • White Horses
    From one of Australia's bestselling and much-loved authors comes a sweeping, powerful story of a young woman who has to overcome loss and trauma to find the courage to live life on her terms. 'Treasure writes with true grit, wit and warmth' Australian Women's Weekly 'This isn't classic Rachael Treasure. This is even better. Treasure has produced a polished, heart-wrenching...
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  • Cleanskin Cowgirls
    A rollickingly good new novel from the bestselling and much-loved author of The Farmer's Wife and Fifty Bales of Hay. On the surface, Elsie Jones, a country music superstar, has it all. But after a brush with death, she is forced to re-evaluate her life. Events soon take her back to her hometown in the wheat belt of western NSW,...
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  • Fifty Bales of Hay
    A celebration of the sexy side of rural life - bestselling author Rachael Treasure delivers lust, humour and, above all, satisfaction in this sizzling collection of steamy stories. Come have a roll in the hay with one of Australia's leading rural fiction authors, Rachael Treasure, in her romping, rollicking first-ever collection of romantic stories, celebrating the sexy side of rural...
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