Unbranded centers on the enduring forty-year friendship of three men: Sandy, a white man; Bindi, a Murri (Indigenous Australian); and Mulga, who shares familial ties with both Bindi and Sandy through his Murri mother and Irish father, respectively. The story follows the distinct yet intertwined journeys of these three friends through the mulga country of the far west. As the three friends age, their paths diverge: Sandy achieves considerable wealth and land ownership, Bindi dedicates himself to Indigenous land rights, and Mulga oscillates between the droving life and urban stints. In its latter sections, the book significantly explores the complexities of Aboriginal identity in a modernizing world, with Mulga's narrative voice occasionally becoming an overt conduit for the author's own perspectives.
Unbranded by Herb Wharton, a former cattle drover, offers a uniquely authentic novel exploring themes of friendship and brotherhood set against the backdrop of inland Australia's stock routes. Wharton presents a strikingly original vision of the outback, populated by a rollicking cast of characters including stockmen, shearers, barmaids, and tourists, moving from lively picnic races and the famous Mt. Isa rodeo to childhood experiences in the yumba and gritty outback pubs. A central argument presented is that adaptation to modernity, primarily through education, is crucial for Aboriginal survival. While acknowledging the historical injustices of white settlers profiting from the land through grazing and mining, the story expresses impatience with prolonged internal disputes among Indigenous groups or an excessive focus on land rights, suggesting a pragmatic approach to progress.
