No, you can’t yet buy a copy of In the Blink of an Eye – it hasn’t even been printed yet – but before a book is published a few proof copies go out, in whatever form is available, to people whom it’s hoped will have time to read it and give some positive endorsement before it’s let loose on the world. We’re going through this process with Blink and I’m really thrilled with the very first reaction to come back.
I’ve never met Scottish poet, playwright and novelist Catherine Czerkawska but I’ve always admired her writing, especially her two most recent historical novels, both from Saraband Books, The Physic Garden (one of the most captivating openings I’ve ever read) and The Jewel, a meticulously researched fictional biography of Robert Burns’ wife Jean Armour which has already exploded quite a few myths about that marriage.
When Catherine got back to me with her reaction to In the Blink of an Eye I couldn’t have been more thrilled and actually I still am. She emailed me quite late a few nights ago to tell me she had just finished it and ‘loved it’ (woop over my night-time cocoa!) calling it ‘a clever, beautiful, moving and informative piece of work.’
She later added a more formal endorsement which is going on the book page right now!
This is a wonderful book: well researched, beautifully written, original in execution and often deeply moving. I found it as magical and profound as the work of the people who inspired it.
So many thanks to Catherine for providing a warm glow as the frost sets in. I’m keeping my fingers double-crossed it’s a sign of things to come.
Ali Bacon / Books and Other Things 