I am delighted to say that The Fire Portrait has reached the United States in physical, print form! While the e-book has been available in North America for several months, it's only now that the paperback has been released for sale. So... please spread the word to your US friends and colleagues and encourage them to grab a copy!
Will it go down well with an American audience? I hope so.
I've always been surprised by the enthusiasm of readers for my novels in countries whose connection with South Africa is not necessarily close i.e. no particular historical tie, no waves of migration to the country, no noticeable links of culture or language. Readers in Spain, for example, have gobbled up my previous books in translation.
Some 800 million print books were bought in the USA last year. Print still dominates the buying - and reading patterns - of Americans, although there has been an uptick in e-book and audiobook consumption. But neither of those formats has yet upended the role of print.
I think it's a physical thing: a book in the hand is a gift, something that we can hold onto, a visible and touchable route into a different world filled with characters we grow to love, admire, hate or tolerate.
And a shelf of books in the home is both a repository of memories - via a turned down page, a frayed cover - and an inspiration for the heart and mind. The words of the great Roman statesman and scholar, Cicero, still hold true:
A room without books
Is like a body without a soul.
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