Author’s book reaches wider audience
Durban author, Cecile Levin, is excited that her book, A Piece of Cake, has been read for Tape Aids for the Blind.
DURBAN writer, Cecile Levin, is excited that her book, A Piece of Cake, which was launched in 2014, will now reach a wider audience.
The book tells the story of Alison, a recently divorced hoarder and acknowledged procrastinator who hates change. As she decides on the fate of family treasures, mere memorabilia or just plain rubbish, Alison remembers life as a schoolgirl in Pietermaritzburg in the 1950s, as a student and teacher in Cape Town, and as a wife, mother and grandmother in Durban in the twenty-first century.
Alison’s bossy older sister directs proceedings telephonically from ‘Maritzburg, her good friends advise her in Durban, and, from the couch, Joey, her eccentric cat, makes wry comments on Alison’s progress – or lack thereof. In the end the job somehow gets done. A piece of cake!
Cecile said since the launch of her book, she sold out the first edition and is in the process of reprinting. She has become a sought after speaker and has given talks at, amongst others, the Amberglen Retirement Home in Howick last week, for the Alumni Association of UKZN, in Cape Town, and on radio during Nancy Richards’ show on SAFM.
“My friend Harold Raiken, who is a reader at Tape Aids for the Blind, said it would be the right book to be read and that the listeners would enjoy it. I waited for a while, then decided to contact Tape Aids, who were eager to have the book read. And, I got the creme de la creme of readers to read it, Caroline Smart! The tape has been out for a few months and I am very thrilled that the audience of people who are not able to read it physically are now able to hear my story. I’m now a reader as well!” she said.
Caroline Smart said she has been a reader at Tape Aids for the Blind for 45 years and started almost immediately after arriving in the country in 1968. She has a studio named after her at Tape Aids for the Blind and has received an award from the organisation.
“I was performing in a play and one of the actresses said she was a reader. I asked her about it, and decided to start too. I now read twice a week and read books which require a lot of accents. It is a fantastic organisation,” she said.
Cecile said she had known Caroline for almost 40 years and hadn’t seen her in ages and happened to bump into her one day at St Clements.
“Caroline asked me what I had been up to as she hadn’t seen me in a while, and I told her I had written a book. She said she would like to read it, and subsequently did a review on the book,” said Cecile.
“It’s a fantastic book and I enjoyed reading it for Tape Aids. My husband died in May, and I realised I seriously have to declutter too! So I have started,” said Caroline.
The book is available from Adams Bookshops or from muffinpress@gmail.com.
