"A Prisoner of Birth", the latest novel by Jeffrey Archer proved as interesting as its reviews extol it to be. I took advantage of a stopover in Hong Kong Airport to quickly read as much of this bestseller as possible but unfortunately I managed only up to page 159. The cast and plot were absorbing; I especially enjoyed the author's use of British wit to endear each character to the reader and to dramatize each twist of the tale.
The author himself seemed like an interesting person. He served time at Her Majesty's pleasure and he's a Lord? I'll have to read his life story sometime...
"Sir, the book you're holding has Lord Archer's signature," remarked the salesgirl suddenly. She must have noticed me standing there, reading the same book for the past hour but I detected a genuine desire to reach out to a customer.
"Oh wow, really?" I raised an eyebrow and flipped to the first few pages.
To be honest, I was kind of patronizing her because she had interrupted me just as the main character was about to learn his fate for the next 22 years, but true enough, the first page contained something that looked like a name scribbled in black marker ink.
"Yes sir, we only have five signed copies available," she explained and politely left me to my reading.
Pretty cool, I thought. But I had the familiar book-lover's dilemma of should I succumb to temptation and buy the book or should I spare this book the indignity of being read once every year and used as a dust-collector for the rest of the time?
In the end, practicality won. But I will be back to see you win your freedom back and be reunited with Beth, Danny, I promise.
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