The Ballad of Desmond Kale

I've finished The Ballad of Desmond Kale by Roger McDonald and it was a hard slog at times. It won the Miles Franklin in 2006 so my expectations were high. It is set in colonial Australia where breeding the right sheep was as good as finding gold and there was fierce competition. The main character was not Desmond Kale, who figured in only small doses, which made him almost mythical. He found a place well beyond settlement to breed his ship following a falling out with his "partner" the flogging Magistrate/Parson Stanton. Stanton was autocratic in his treatment of those he despised and he tried many means to find the now "escaped convict" Kale who was a good sheep breeder. Stanton goes to London to procure maps taken there of the so far unsettled area where he believes Kale to be. There are other characters around Stanton, but he is the main one - ruthless, hypocritical and desperate. However, I was disappointed and at times bored with this story, which doesn't really amount to much. 21/2/5