Australian historical fiction. This is a gripping, fast-moving drama about the downtrodden Asker clan and the harsh realities of life in a desolate and forbidding land. Always present are the Askers' arch-enemies, the aristocratic Glengyles. Nathaniel's Bloodline gives a graphic account of the lives of the early settlers, explorers, cattle drovers, gold miners and gamblers. Meanwhile, home at The Rocks, Sydney's first suburb, are the wives waiting for their men to come home to their large poverty-stricken families.