Summary
A stark tableau unfolds on the desolate, government-administered island outposts off Australia's western littoral, where segregated infirmaries tend to the indigenous populace. Amidst a backdrop of administrative neglect and professional lassitude, the arrival of the youthful Dr. Hicksey heralds a new, if ultimately tragic, chapter. Driven by an almost monastic devotion to his medical research, Hicksey, dispatched to rectify the prevailing incompetence, soon secures the invaluable assistance of Nurse Alice Desmond, a woman whose professional acumen is matched only by her potent, if initially unrequited, ardor. Their professional synergy, forged in the crucible of a remote, demanding environment, soon dissolves into a tempestuous personal entanglement. Following a cataclysmic hurricane that strips away their defenses, Hicksey, succumbing to an exhaustion that erodes his intellectual resolve, yields to Alice's persistent overtures, thus igniting a passionate, yet ultimately doomed, affair. As Hicksey's scientific pursuits increasingly consume him, Alice's burgeoning resentment over his perceived emotional withdrawal festers, culminating in a vitriolic confrontation. Into this volatile breach steps John Sherwin, the brutish, territorial overseer of the men's island, an opportunist who views Alice's vulnerability as an invitation. His predatory advances, met with fierce resistance, propel Alice back to Hicksey, sparking a primal, nocturnal hunt through the unforgiving jungle. Sherwin emerges from the verdant labyrinth, a chilling harbinger of death, claiming Hicksey's life. Alice, startlingly dispassionate, dismisses her former lover with a declaration of antipathy, readily agreeing to a future with Sherwin. Yet, the narrative reveals a final, unexpected twist: Hicksey, merely wounded and nursed back to health by a local, quietly absconds from the islands, leaving behind a wake of shattered illusions and brutal realities.
Synopsis
The British Government runs hospitals for the native population on two islands off Australia's west coast, one for each sex. Because of the incompetent staff, young Dr. Hicksey is sent there, and he succeeds in obtaining the services of a capable nurse, Alice Desmond. Hicksey, who took the position for the opportunity to do research, resists Alice's sexual overtures, until exhausted after a hurricane he succumbs and becomes her lover. Gradually Hicksey tires of Alice as his research work causes her to complain of neglect. After they have a furious quarrel, John Sherwin, the burly overseer of the men's island, sees his chance to win Alice. When she resists his caveman advances and tells Hicksey, the men stalk each other throughout a night in the jungle. After Sherwin emerges and reports that he killed Hicksey, Alice says that she hated him anyway, and they plan to marry. Hicksey, however, is only wounded, and after a native treats him, he leaves the islands.
