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Finding Mattie O'Brien
Paperback
Publisher: Fred Van Horn
Published: Sep 21 2026
Pages: 554
Weight: 2.18
Height: 1.51 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
After thirty-three years of service and a life defined by duty, Colonel Michael Hart finds himself facing a future he never planned for. Recovering from illness and medically retired, he accepts an old friend's invitation to a remote cattle station in North Queensland, Australia, a hundred thousand acres of quiet country far removed from the world he has known.
There, Hart is welcomed into the O'Brien family and introduced to Mattie O'Brien, the capable station manager and pilot whose family has spent generations building a life on the land. What begins as a place to recover gradually becomes something Hart did not realize he was searching for: a home.
Against the vast Australian landscape, Hart becomes part of the rhythms of station life, its cattle, aircraft, family traditions, hard work, and deep connection to country. As his relationship with Mattie develops, he must also confront the memories of the life he left behind and decide whether belonging can be found again after years spent serving somewhere else.
Finding Mattie O'Brien is a character-driven novel about homecoming, family, love, healing, duty, and finding a new purpose when one chapter of life comes to an end. Hart arrives believing he is only staying for a while, but the O'Brien family and the country itself may have other plans.
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