I am thrilled to report that my novel The Housemaid's Daughter has just been released in South Africa by Jonathan Ball Publishers. It will be available at bookstores throughout the country, I'm told, and I can't wait to see a picture of it up on a shelf soon! But it will only be when I return to SA at the end of the year and see it for myself, that I will truly believe it's there! Why is it that we need to see things with our own eyes before we are convinced? In the meantime, if anyone spots a copy, please post a picture on facebook for me.
It's been quite a journey getting to this point, involving 6 years of writing and research, and a lengthy campaign to find an agent and publisher who would take the book beyond its first self-published foray. Along the way I have made new friends, and re-discovered old ones who have somehow got wind of the book. Our interconnected world makes this so much more possible than a few years ago. Now, with just the flick of a 'like' or 'share' or 'comment', we can reach folk not just far away geographically, but also with whom we have lost touch.
I am hoping that the response to the book in SA will be as enthusiastic as it has been in the UK and, most recently, in Australia, where the story appears to have touched a chord. And from this point onwards, the overseas publications will really be gathering pace. New Zealand is next, followed by Canada - where I have received a Book-of-the-Month recommendation, of which more later.
But it is the arrival of the book in South Africa that is a particularly poignant moment for me. My SA story is finally coming home, and will now be widely available. Let's hope it flies off those shelves!
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