Historic land showcased in novel award

BOOK AWARD: Limestone Coast local author Carol Grbich showcases the novel ‘Accidental Heiress’ which was recently awarded the Keain Medal award.

Charlotte Varcoe

HISTORICAL actions of the Glencoe Woolshed has been hailed as a significant success with a locally produced novel receiving the Keain Medal awarded by the History Society of South Australia.

The novel ‘Accidental Heiress’ explores the story of the Leake family and their relevance and stories prior and following the building of the woolshed in 1862.

Travelling from Tasmania to South Australia, two Leake brothers soon found themselves on a block of land – of which the woolshed now resides – with the novel following the family’s journey and heritance transactions throughout the year.

According to the novel, a daughter of a Leake brother – Edward – soon found herself to be the owner of the land at the mere age of seven before selling the property to the Riddoch brothers.

Written by Limestone Coast locals John Berger and Carol Grbich, the project initially began with the two pairing up to write a brochure for the facility.

“We did a bit of research and that research soon turned out to be enough for a 200-page book,” Ms Grbich said.

“Putting together an entire novel was not planned and it did turn out to be a really good book in the end which we are proud of.

“We are part of the National Trust for the Woolshed branch and we really just wanted to give something to give back to those attending the area.”

The author said despite the novel originally coming out over a year ago, the two were overjoyed to receive the award.

“We were surprised to find out we received the award and we continue to be excited to contribute something like this to the wider community,” she said.

“The book has done very well in the South East so far which is fantastic and to receive this further recognition is fantastic.”

The books are now available for sale at a range of retail stores across Millicent, Mount Gambier and Penola.