Coral Petkovich Releases Mother's Memoir

Spearwood, Australia

There are ample reasons why certain stories endure: some because of their entertainment value; others because of their morals; while most can be attributed to being extraordinary. This last is why author Coral Petkovich believes her mother's story should be told to the rest of the world. Her long and exceptional life is captured in detail in "May's Story," (published by Xlibris AU).

"May's Story" follows the long life of the protagonist, May, who was born in Hawthorn, Victoria in 1908 and died in Perth, Western Australia, in 2009. Her mother took her not long after her birth back to Wiluna in outback Western Australia, where her father had a gold mine. From there, they went while she was a small child to the Swan Hotel in Fremantle, which belonged to them until 1921. Her father died of the Spanish Influenza in 1919. The book treads through the significant events of the century including the two world wars as the writer vividly paints a picture of how the characters cope with the various aspects of life - its sorrows, pains and joys.

"Even though many things have changed since 1908, the basic things are still the same," says Petkovich:"how people play the cards that are dealt to them in life, how they cope with pain and suffering, birth and death and how they retain always their humanity, if they do."

Moving and compelling in its entirety, "May's Story" is a timeless epitome of courage and indomitable human spirit. It takes readers back to a time which now only exists in history and to stories which are now only surviving in written form and in fewer and fewer living memories.

"May's Story"
By Coral Petkovich
Hardcover | 6x9i in | 174 pages | ISBN 9781499033571
Softcover | 6x9in | 174 pages | ISBN 9781499033557
E-Book | 174 pages | ISBN 9781499033618
Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble

About the Author
Coral Petkovich was born in Perth, Western Australia to Anglo-Australian parents. She went to local state schools before gaining a scholarship to Perth Modern School. There, she completed her secondary education and then won a scholarship to Underwood's Business College, which she attended for six months before gaining employment at the Main Library of the University of WA. She met her future husband in Sydney while on a working holiday - a Croatian man who had literally escaped from the former Yugoslavia, without a passport and had come to live in Australia. They were married a year later and subsequently went to live in Croatia. They had four children. In 1989, he died and she returned to Australia and was alone for eight years before meeting a Bosnian refugee who became her partner for 16 years, until his sudden death in 2013. In 2008, her first book, "Ivan - from Adriatic to Pacific" was published and the second, based on the life of her mother who died in 2009 aged 101, was begun. She completed this book in between translating several novels into English from authors writing in the languages of the former Yugoslavia; the first of these was included in the long list for the Dublin Literary Awards - quite an honor for the author whose first novel it was.

Xlibris Publishing Australia, an Author Solutions, LLC imprint, is a self-publishing services provider dedicated to serving Australian authors. By focusing on the needs of creative writers and artists and adopting the latest print-on-demand publishing technology and strategies, we provide expert publishing services with direct and personal access to quality publication in hardcover, trade paperback, custom leather-bound and full-color formats. To date, Xlibris has helped to publish more than 60,000 titles.For more information, visit xlibrispublishing.com.au or call 1800 455 039 to receive a free publishing guide. Follow us @XlibrisAus on Twitter for the latest news.

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