Business Day Article

Quick post!
I was very thrilled to see an article about The Housemaid's Daughter in last week's South African Business Day newspaper. I don't think you will be able to decipher it here, but if you nip on to their website you will be able to read it full-size!

Please go to the Life section of the website, then Books.
www.bdlive.co.za/life/books

The interview for the article was conducted by Sue Grant Marshall, with whom I also spent a most hilarious half hour recording a discussion for her program on Radio Today. Certainly the most relaxed radio interview I have ever done.
It will be airing over the next week or two on Sue's regular show on Thursday mornings at 10am SA time, which is 8am in the UK.

You can listen live at www.1485.org.za or you could wait for the podcast...

The Housemaid's Daughter on t4w

Out there in the cyberspace jungle, there is a captivating new beast stirring!
A brilliant new website/community aimed at women in their forties, fifties and beyond... A dynamic group whom founder Carolyn Lazarus describes as women who weren't born yesterday!

It's called totally4women (t4w) and you can find it at totally4women.com

Do go online and look at their offerings on culture, travel, the home, life and wellbeing etc. It is certainly one of the the most interesting sites I have spotted in my trawlings round the Web. You can sign up to contribute or just enjoy the content. The site is being featured in Good Housekeeping - who gave The Housemaid's Daughter a strong recommendation last year - and soon on radio as well.

Given that so many of us are aspiring writers, I was delighted to be asked by Carolyn to write an article for t4w on my road to publication and how The Housemaid's Daughter found its way onto the bookshelves. Some of you may know that I initially self-published - but don't let me give away anything more! Have a read, you never know what it may inspire...



And while you're on t4w's site, take a look at the wonderfully-named wit, wisdom and wardrobe.
Irresistible!

A Cape Town Book Launch

I have been busy promoting The Housemaid's Daughter in South Africa.

On Wednesday of last week, fresh from my Johannesburg launches, I was at the Book Lounge in central Cape Town beneath the ramparts of Table Mountain, to be "in conversation with" Beverley Roos-Muller. Beverley is an academic, a journalist and a writer and I was most grateful that she took time out from her own work to chat to me about the book in front of our audience.

It was a fascinating discussion, ranging from the inspiration for the book to the challenge of creating a saga that stretches across four generations, a world war, and sixty years of turbulent SA history. By the way, if you don't know what - and who - inspired me to write the book, do visit my website barbaramutch.com and you'll be able to read about the background.
Talking of grounds, below ground is where we were: Mervyn Sloman's Book Lounge has a subterrainean space which is the perfect setting for a glass of wine, some nibbles and a keen conversation about books.

The Book lounge event brought to an end my whirlwind SA promotion of the book, along with my local distributers, Jonathan Ball. It has been a privilege for me to meet so many readers who have enjoyed the book, and who have recommnded it to friends across the globe. Thank you!

Although I will be returning to the UK, the book will be receiving a further boost in South Africa with the upcoming publication of an interview in the Business Day, and a review in the Cape Argus and the Sunday Times. Also, keep an ear open for Reading Matters on Radio Today with Sue Grant Marshall, and the upcoming review on Jenny Crys Williams book show on Radio 702.

Next time we leap into cyberspace...