The Housemaid's Daughter in Paperback

I am delighted to say that The Housemaid's Daughter has been published on 3rd January in the UK as a paperback!

It has a brand new cover which you can see here. The cover follows the colour scheme of the original hardback in evoking the heat and dust of the Karoo, while also being subtly watermarked with a musical score to denote the importance of music in the novel. We chose a photographic image, and I am captivated this time not just with the front cover but with the back as well, showing a child looking over her shoulder. Despite its size, for me it's a powerful image. She is all I ever imagined the young Ada to be. Let me know what you think when you see it.

The paperback will now be sold in bookshops and online from the usual suppliers. Of course, the book continues to be available as a downloadable e-book for Kindle and tablet e.g. iPad, and can also be downloaded as an audiobook. Please spread the word!

I am in South Africa at the moment, where I will be promoting The Housemaid's Daughter in its "home" market. It's always a thrill to see it on bookshelves here, and I hope that we can give it a good push. The new paperback version will also be released here in January.

2013 looks like being a fascinating year for the book, and for me. I have been working with the French translator on the translation and I have been heartened by the care and attention being lavished on each phrase. For example, Ada's description of Rosemary's hair as being "yellow" could not be translated literally - that would have cast aspersions on Rose's character which I didn't intend, at least not at that point in the novel...!