Cleary, Jon. The Sundowners, Pymble, N.S.W. : HarperCollins, 2002.
The Sundowners is the tale of the outback Australian family, the Carmodys. Paddy Carmody loves being 'someone whose home is where the sun goes down', but his wife and teenage son are tired of the nomadic life, and want to settle down. The story is set in the Australian Outback during the 1920's and deals with one year in the life of the nomadic Australian family as they work their way across the continent earning money to buy a farm. Paddy Carmody, Australian-born son of Irish migrants, is an itinerant worker, travelling the country with his wife Ida and son Sean in a horse-drawn wagon. Whilst Ida longs to settle in a place of their own, Paddy is unwilling to abandon his way of life and continues to pick up work where he can. He takes cattle-droving jobs and also sheep-shearing - which he doesn't like, but pays well. The story focuses on the father's refusal to accept adult responsibilities and the son's longing for a true father-son relationship.
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