Sunday 29 January 2023

A Comforting Thought

I volunteer at a little local cinema, and one night as I was helping set everything up for the evening’s film, my co-volunteer told me that her 10-year-old daughter had discovered my story, A Horse for 5 Jennifers, in the local bookshop. Horse-mad, she bought it, read it and loved it so much that she made sure her two cousins – also horse-mad – received copies for Christmas. They loved it as much as she did. “Fantastic!” one said.

So far, the book is only available in Dutch, where its title is De Zusjes Jennifer (The Sisters Jennifer). And while it’s sold modestly but decently, there have been no other offers from any other publishers. More than a little disheartening.

But the news that these three girls – the same age as the sisters in the book – loved this horse adventure I’d dreamed up really made my day. My month, actually. And it made me remind myself that one day, when I’m no longer around, the book is still going to be out there. Making, I hope, other readers as happy as these three young girls.

It’s a comforting thought.

2 comments:

Sue Purkiss said...

It's a lovely thought. I had a similar reaction the other day when a teacher got in touch on FB to say that she was reading my book Jack Fortune to her class, and they were loving it. Such a thrill. Reminds you that there is some point to it, after all!

Nick Garlick said...

Thank you, Sue. And it does, doesn't it?