Bad Company

Click the above for PDF

Synopsis

Bill and Jenny Hardwick have built their small holding at Chidowla with sweat, thrift, and sheer refusal to give in. Every fence post, every milk pail, every hard-won improvement points toward a larger dream: more land, more stock, and a better future for their children. But when Bill leaves home for shearing work in the river country, he is drawn into a bitter labour dispute led by dangerous men who value power and grievance more than honest work—or the families who depend on it. 

As the conflict spreads from shed to shed, Bill finds himself trapped between union enforcers, opportunists, and station owners, forced to choose not between easy right and obvious wrong, but between competing loyalties: to his fellow workers, to his own conscience, and above all to the wife and children waiting for him at home. What begins as an industrial quarrel soon darkens into intimidation, faction, and personal peril on the long road downriver, where the loudest ideals may conceal the meanest motives. 

Rich in atmosphere and grounded in the harsh beauty of rural life, Boldrewood: Bad Company is a powerful novel of marriage, work, and moral courage. At its heart is the story of two people building a future together—and of the cost when that future is threatened not by drought or failure, but by the ruinous influence of men who make their living from other people’s unrest. 

Copyright © 2026 Alan H. Gael

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, contact info@alangael.com