In a mysterious castle in Libya where he stumbles upon some unexpected vestiges of the past, the narrator is inspired to tell the story of his extraordinary experiences in Australia. It is a story about the meeting of two cultures - Italian and Aboriginal - and about the emotions aroused in the writer by his chance encounters with people and places that provide vivid, but fragile, proof of this meeting. The engrossing search for a distant reality (with immediate resonance for the present day) intertwines magic storytelling and sociological curiosity, historical reconstruction and notes on a journey. The reader is caught up in an intriguing tale that uncovers some fascinating truths about Italian migrants to Australia during the last Gold Rush, from the close of the 19th century to the first decades of the 20th. Polenta and Goanna is a brave and unflinching portrayal of a controversial and highly sensitive topic. ...] The book reflects an honest and sincere attempt by an Italian writer to imaginatively explore the experience of intimacy and love between members of two radically different cultures. Stephen Bennetts, University of Western Australia