Storm in a Tea Cup

The publication of this book has created somewhat of a storm in a teacup. Melbourne  researcher, Maja Sainisch-Plimer, demanded its recall, claiming the book misrepresented the findings of her research over the twenty years. The publisher, Graeme Ryan, placed a Notice to Bookshops in the book pages of The Age claiming unfair practice and advising bookshops ‘to confidently display and sell Anya: Countess of Adelaide’. Subsequently the book has been reclassified by the National Library from biography to fiction.

It tells the story of a German girl who came to Adelaide in 1883, by then a place of some physical substance, boasting university, public library and art gallery. Agnes Klevesahl survives a loathsome ten-week voyage in steerage, retaining her physical and social integrity against all odds. She takes up employment as a waitress in a cafe and there meets one Charles Rasp, also of German origin who, in his meanderings as boundary rider on McCulloch’s Mount Gipps run, discovers silver lead and becomes the ‘Silver King’ and a founder of the Broken Hill Proprietary Company Limited. Agnes, heart and mind won by his new-found wealth, promptly accepts his hand and becomes his ‘Anya’.