Author Leonie Kelsall returns to Mount Gambier Library this month to launch her third novel, The River Gum Cottage.
The River Gum Cottage is a heart-warming rural romance with strong characters, community connection and deals with guilt, betrayal and an unlikely romance. It will leave you discovering that home is where the heart is.
Mount Gambier Library team leader Kristi Brooks said that rural romance novels continue to be one of the library’s most popular genres.
“We are fortunate enough to have hosted Leonie Kelsall with her previous two novels and she had the audience in stitches, combining both tales of her writing and personal life. Leonie’s books are filled with complex characters and will appeal to anyone who loves a good family saga,” Ms Brooks said.
Leonie grew up in the South Australian country – initially on the beautiful Fleurieu Peninsula in a tiny town where the school had a total enrolment of only eleven students and later on a farm near the stunning Murray River. Her rural upbringing encouraged a love of books, for which she will be forever grateful.
In the novel The River Gum Cottage, Lucie Tamberlani had it all: a business manager with a passion for naturopathy, she was set to take over the bookwork at the family strawberry farm in South Australia. But the unexpected fallout from a relationship sees her flee to Melbourne, raising her daughter alone.
Summoned back to the farm after her father’s death, Lucie must find a way to deal with not only grief, guilt and the betrayal that forced her away – but the fear of losing her daughter.
Jack Schenscher is doing it tough: caring for his aged grandparents and managing their wheat farm while simultaneously pursuing his passion for sustainable eco-farming on his acreage leaves him with little time and even less money.
With the death of his business partner, he could lose all he has worked toward. Yet when he meets Lucie, can he set aside one passion for another?
Both Lucie and Jack must discover that home is wherever the heart is.
The free event, with complimentary homemade soup to follow the talk, will be held on July 24 and 11am. Bookings required contact Mount Gambier Library on 8721 2540 or book online at www.mountgambier.sa.gov.au/library under ‘Programs and Events’.
