NEW NOVEL BRINGS MIDLANDS TO LIFE
ADurban woman’s love for the Midlands Meander and Hilton’s “towering forests” and “rolling green hills” has inspired the setting of her debut novel, Love Leiyah, which has been shortlisted for the International SABA award.
Although from Durban, the Midlands remains Shan Lee’s “favourite place”. The relationship between the area and her writing was cemented after attending writing retreats in the Midlands, and noting the similarities of the KwaZuluNatal landscape and the scenic England countryside she knew from her travels and from her favourite Jane Austen and Emily Bronte novels.
“I strongly felt the Midlands boasted a landscape even more beautiful. On a retreat in Dargle, I came face to face with a leopard cub.
At that moment I knew the landscape that stood before me would be the central location in the story,” she said.
Set in the Knoll Historical Guest Farm in Hilton and parts of the Dargle, her romance-drama and suspense-filled novel tells the epic love stories of three vastly different women. Their secrets and forbidden loves start to slowly unravel with the unexpected arrival of a mysterious package.
“What did the package contain that has forced the women of the Gordon household to finally reveal their secrets? … As Hannah, Beatrice and Zendaya share their passionate tales, they embark on a journey through time to the Midlands Meander in South Africa…” the synopsis reads. The novel, which took eight years to complete due to the extensive geographical and historical research, had Lee spending a lot of her time at the Knoll Guest Farm, exploring local sites and surrounding rural areas with the help of the owners who showed her around the area.
“This was something we did daily to ensure the accuracy of the portrayal of the setting in my novel. The crucial descriptions of the rural area, the towering forests, historic buildings, rolling hills and horses can also all be seen from the banks of the Knoll, including Midmar Dam and the start of the Drakensberg from the top of the hill.”
Lee drew inspiration from her favourite novel, Wuthering Heights, and wanted to write a love story “as timeless as Emily Bronte’s and Austen’s novels, but boasting [her] own local ‘countryside’ with its unique South African twists”. Her book touches on prevalent issues: racial segregation, societal stigma and abuse.
Three months after publishing, Love Leiyah was shortlisted for the International SABA award for Best New Author alongside two international authors from the USA and UK.
Lee said it was an “indescribable feeling” that has made all the years of hard work and perseverance even more worth it. “I feel like I have already done my country proud,” she said.
Experiencing first-hand the underrepresentation of South African authors and literature, Lee used her writing platform and book launch to promote other local authors as well recently (April 24) at The Knoll Guest Farm, in the form of a book fair. She also invited five local guest authors, Elana Bregin, Bernade Bayede, Karen Runge, Philip Kretzman and Mark Dryden, to share readings of their books as well. The event was well attended and hopefully is the first of more book readings to come.
Love Leiyah is available at Top Class books in Hilton, or from the author. Email shanleeauthor@gmail.com or visit https://www.shanlee.site/