Mothers and daughters at readings

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I had a reading in the beautiful rural Ontario town of Uxbridge yesterday afternoon, as part of the Blue Heron Books "Books & Brunch" reading series. Shelley Macbeth of the bookstore did an outstanding job (yay, Indies!). My on-stage interview after the reading by Susanna Kearsley was very enjoyable. Her questions were interesting — in large part, I think, because she's an historical author herself. (See her books here.)

I heard some wonderful stories from fans. One woman told me that her husband threatened divorce if she read another book by "that Josephine woman" (because she disappeared into the books). Another young woman told me her boyfriend had the same complaint. One woman said she reread Josephine once a month!

There were a number of mother/daughter couples in attendance. Below, Kathryn and Emma, Teri and Margaret, and Judy and Eleanor. (My apologies if I do not have the names in the right order.)



Kathryn (top left) had a full set of the hard-cover first editions of the Trilogy -- very hard to find now. She'd gone to some trouble to find them and had them beautifully protected in plastic covers. I love those first books, and I get quite emotional seeing them all in a set like that and so clearly dearly loved.

The Bookworm in Edwards, CO

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It was a two-and-a-half hour drive from Denver to Edwards, but well worth it. The Bookworm is one of the best bookstores I've seen, and they really know how to put on an event: great advertising, good wine, exceptionally tasty appetisers.

Okay, this may sound silly, but I discovered the first sign of their savvy advertising in the washroom:



What a perfect place for an ad! It's a universal truth known to all bookstore owners that book browsing and the need to use a washroom are mysteriously yet biologically linked. (Seinfeld confirmed this in a skit.)

It was a great audience. Many of them had already read — and loved! — Mistress of the Sun.



There were 51 in attendance, a number of them from book clubs. Here is another mother/daughter portrait: Therese and her lovely daughter, Rachel.



Another mother told me that she was looking forward to going to Paris with her daughter. They had read the Trilogy and would be tracing Josephine's route. What did I suggest? I recommended that she read Walks through Napoleon & Josephine's Paris by Diana Reid Haig. This is a gorgeous book, recently given to me by a very special person, Janet Park Datema (more on Janet later), in St. Louis. Another good guide I recommend to Trilogy tourists (of whom there are a number!) is You Go Girl Paris. The authors list many Josephine B. sites to see.

All-in-all, a fabulous evening! Thank you, Bookworms all.