After more than six hours in the air, Dr. Reynolds arrived in London on Tuesday evening, November 7, to be greeted by wet and cold and uninviting weather. However, the reception he received at his reading and book signing on Thursday evening at the St. Lucia High Commission was anything but wet and cold and uninviting. The audience was warm, engaging and excited to meet and chat with the author, and couldn’t wait to purchase their copy of The Stall Keeper. In fact, thinking that the few books on the display table were all that was available, there was a rush to the book signing table after the formal presentation. And after purchasing their copy of the book, most in the audience wanted to take photos with the author.
This wasn’t the first time that Dr. Reynolds conducted a reading and book signing in London at The High Commission, he was there in 2008 and back then he said that the London audience was the most appreciative audience he had ever read to. Well, last night’s event gave the author no reason to revise his impression.
The High Commissioner, his honorable Guy Mayers, and other members of the audience said that they wished Dr. Reynolds had timed his visit to London to coincide with such events as Jounen Kweyol or St. Lucia National Day, when hundreds of St. Lucians would be in attendance. Dr. Reynolds confessed that because of greater familiarity with North America, he has been focusing most of his attention on that market. But the great reception he has received in London is making him realize that he needs to pay greater attention to the UK, accordingly he is planning to make frequent trips, and, as he did in the US, tie his visit with St. Lucia cultural and national events.
Besides London, he would also like to visit other major UK cities with a large St. Lucia contingency. Indeed, just as he has made New York his base from which to explore the North American market, he hopes to use London as the platform from which to explore Europe.
On the Saturday following his book event at the High Commission, Dr. Reynolds attended a Commonwealth Charity Fair where all commonwealth nations had a booth displaying and selling their indigenous products. The author shared the St. Lucian booth with the St. Lucia High Commission at which he displayed and signed copies of his book. He was pleased with the great attention and interest his books generated among West Indians and non-West Indians alike.
Dr. Reynolds would like to thank His Honorable, Mr. Guy Mayers and staff of the St. Lucia High Commission and Mrs. Felicia Hippolyte and other members of the Unity of UK St Lucian Associations for graciously hosting and facilitating the London reading and book signing event, which met all his expectations.
