By OSWALD T. BROWN
WASHINGTON, D.C., December 18, 2021 – Sales of my noel WOES OF LIFE, which was published in August of 2017, have overall overall been very disappointing. I fully expected that my first novel would have provided me with life-long financial security, and really anticipated that the spellbinding plot and narrative I developed – loosely based on political developments in The Bahamas – would have possibly resulted in WOES OF LIFE being made into movie by either Tyler Perry or Spike Lee.
WOES OF LIFE is available on Amazon, and my optimism that it would be bestseller increased after reading a review on Amazon by Nicole Roberts, a Bahamian who lives in London, who gave it a FIVE STAR rating. Here’s what she had to say: “A good compelling read this book is. The fictional characters and their fictional situations illuminate, in rather inconspicuous and surprising ways, to life in the 700 islands and cays way back when. Highly recommend!”
Another review had this to say: “WOES OF LIFE is a treat for lovers of historical fiction, as it relates to life in the Caribbean, in the formative decades of the 1940s and 50s. For those with an especially keen interest in the political turmoils of the Bahamas during that time, they will find this book particularly fascinating. The books tells the story of a young black boy named Byron Boyd, through the varied and sometimes surreal landscape of a small island colony called Athol Island. The Atholians live, work and socialise along divided racial lines. These divisions lead to more than one interpersonal, social and political showdown in the book.”
Here’s an excerpt from Amazon: “Woes of Life is the story of an emerging island nation in the 1940s and 1950s. It is a story of the struggle against colonialism and racism, the rise to power of Byron Boyd, a young black man from humble beginnings, intertwined with the tragic relationship between a rich and spoiled young white woman and a black playboy club owner. As the story unfolds, oppression, the Black Power movement, political intrigue, a suicide and a murder plot are all woven together, with the drama of the struggle for majority rule and equality.”
At the outbreak of COVID-19, sales picked up noticeably in the United States, presumably because more and more people heeded the advice of medical professionals and began staying at home and reading more as a result of the pandemic, but that “good news” did not last long.
I had high hopes that an ongoing advertisement prominently positioned in my online publication BAHAMAS CHRONICLE would have spurred sales of WOES OF LIFE, but it has not.
My optimism in this regard was based on the fact that BAHAMAS CHRONICLE was launched to keep Bahamians and nationals from other Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries living in the diaspora up-to-date on news from their respective countries and has developed a huge following across the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom as well as in The Bahamas and the wider Caribbean.
Given the poor sales performance of WOES OF LIFE, I have abandoned plans to write a follow-up book that had the working title ATHOL ISLAND: THE ROAD TO INDEPNDENCE and will instead devote some time early next year to writing a fact-based, historically accurate book on political developments in The Bahamas.
Indeed, it has become quite evident to me that based on the misinformation bandied about on Social Media about historical events in The Bahamas, there is a dire need for a journalist like myself who has been actively involved in Bahamian politics from I was a young reporter at The Tribune in the 1960s to accurately document the struggle for majority rule in the country.
In the meantime, those of you who have not yet read WOES OF LIFE, check it out on Amazon. It would certainly make a great Christmas gift. What’s more, personally I am facing a very bleak Christmas and financial uncertainty heading into the new year, and an increase in sales of WOES OF LIFE would certainly be a tremendous help at this time.
