Sunday, 15 May 2011

Heart of the Story


“My heart is in Cumbria,” said Kathleen sadly, knowing she would never be there again.

“It got me here,” said Gail the hairdresser, putting her hand on her heart. 

Gail is a lovely young woman, a Cumbrian through and through, who loves reading. As I struggled to lift the heavy box left by the desk while I got my hair cut, her curiosity got the better of her, and my pride in my first batch of real books resulted in me digging into the box and showing a sample of what I was about to deliver to the bookshop in Carlisle. The result was that she bought the first copy sold of Moon in Leo.

I was back at the hairdresser’s yesterday, and she told me how much she loved the book: “as a Cumbrian myself, it made me feel like I was part of the land and history the writer is talking about”

We have had some great feedback from a variety of readers, but Gail touched my heart, just as Kathleen touched hers. I expected older, scholarly readers to enjoy it, but this response from a young, fashionable, working girl shows that a really special writer has universal appeal.

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