Hot novel flies off shelves

Book stores in Bahrain are waiting for new stocks of one of the hottest novels of the summer to be delivered after copies have literally flown off the shelves in recent weeks, writes Stan Szecowka.

Stunned members of staff have been overwhelmed by the demand for Fifty Shades of Grey the first novel by E L James and part of a trilogy.

It’s described as an erotic romance aimed at a ‘mature audience’ and copies have quickly been snatched up priced BD6.100, particularly by expat wives flying off on their summer holidays.

Elmer Layson, manager of Words BookstoreCafé on Budaiya Highway, said: “The interest in this book has been staggering and we only have one book left in the cupboard awaiting collection.

“We’ve had two shipments and they sold out as soon as we put them on the shelves and we are now awaiting fresh supplies to satisfy a waiting list of customers.”

E L James - real name Erika Leonard - is a former TV executive, wife and mother-of-two, based in West London.

The book is the fastest-selling paperback of all time - and some observers suggest the author is in the process of becoming the fastest-earning author of all time too.

She has earned an estimated £6.5million in just a few months and admits she never expected Fifty Shades of Grey to be such ‘a huge success’ and had planned to carry on working in TV and writing novels on the side.

It is now labelled a New York Times best-seller.Universal Pictures and Focus Features bought the film rights earlier this year for $5million after a Hollywood bidding war, and have since announced the movie will be produced by Michael De Luca and Dana Brunetti, the team behind Facebook blockbuster The Social Network.

The book’s racy plot follows the depraved relationship between naive graduate Anastasia Steele and handsome older billionaire Christian Grey.

One US book lover in Bahrain who has read it described it as a ‘book she couldn’t put down’ and a British housewife living in Janabayah said she had searched the bookshops around Bahrain for one to no avail because she didn’t want to wait ages for it to be delivered from overseas.

Help should now be at hand as Jashanmal Bookstore, with branches at Bahrain City Centre, Seef Mall, Al A’ali Shopping Complex, Bahrain Financial Harbour and the airport receiving fresh supplies after the first batch of 200 copies were quickly snatched up. The store’s Paul Sequeira said: “We had to reorder copies of the book as the first batch was sold out in a few days!”