The classic novel of convict Australia, For the Term of His Natural Life is a narrative of enormous power, but also great suffering and inhumanity. There is no attempt made to soften the truth of degradation and cruelty of the convict existence, yet the novel is filled with life and peopled with unforgettable characters: Frere, the magnificent barbarian; Sarah Purfoy, aglow with colour and vitality, attracting men as moths to light; John Rex, the consummate villain. And woven through the story is the gold thread spun from the faith and hope of Sylvia, the innocent child who loves the luckless Rufus Dawes, condemned to transportation for life for a crime he did not commit.