On 29 July 2014, Glen Turner, a compliance officer with the Office of Environment and Heritage, was shot dead by farmer Ian Turnbull near Croppa Creek, New South Wales.
Glen Turner.
Turner was the area with a colleague. They were scheduled to meet with Turnbull the next day to discuss Turnbull’s non-compliance of land clearing. Although Turner had not seen the farmer for two years, the two men had history.
*
Kate Holden’s The Winter Road is a very full-on book. It is vividly-written and meticulously researched.
It uses Glen Turner’s murder as the basis for an examination of Australia’s relationship with the land. It also discusses the crimes, conflicts, and dilemmas that have existed ever since the British arrived in 1788.
If you are interested in true crime, history, the Australian landscape, the environment, then I would recommend giving The Winter Road a read.
Praise for The Winter Road
“Beautifully written, meticulously researched, carefully plotted and seamlessly stitched.” — Charles Massy
“An agonising and powerful parable.” — Tom Griffiths
“Ecological, humane and grounding.” — Anna Krien
About Kate Holden
Kate Holden is the author of two acclaimed memoirs, In My Skin and The Romantic, and a regular contributor to The Saturday Paper, The Monthly, and The Age.
Kate Holden talks about The Winter Road
Kate Holden talks about The Winter Road in the video below.
Technical information
Kate Holden, The Winter Road: A Story of Legacy, Land and a Killing at Croppa Creek, Black Inc 2021, 336pp, paperback, ISBN 9781760640361.
