Kensington resident opens the pages to her passion

With September 1 to 7 marked as National Book Week, the EXPRESS recently spoke to Mrs Cynthia >Piercey, who shared her love for books and writing in her Kensington home. Welcoming us into her home, she took us to her personal library which is filled with books from the floor all the way to the ceiling.

She has a wide range of titles, ranging from children’s books to medical tomes and biographies.

Taking us through her life’s journey with books, Mrs Piercey said her love for books was instilled by her father, who read a wide variety of books throughout his life.

She said she started collecting books at the age of 12 and her collection has grown immensely over the years.

“People collect the things they are passionate about, and I am passionate about knowledge,” she said.

“I read to exercise my brain, but the main reason is, what better legacy to leave for my children?”

She was questioned about the future of books in an era where people are fascinated by e-books and reading through the internet. She said as much as some people read e-books, there are still a lot of people out there who still prefer to pick up a hard copy and read, because they connect with their books. She believes there is still a market out there for them.

Mrs Piercey not only collect books, she is a writer in her own right, and has published a fictional romance novel, based in the Cape. The book is titled On Wings of a Dream, which was published in 2011.

She never really thought of publishing her own book until her late father, a writer himself, gave her the idea and encouraged her to write.

Mrs Piercey said she reads for different reasons and that reading helps her understand different authors.

“The author can speak directly to you from perhaps thousands of kilometres away, and the words you are reading may have been written many years before,” she said.

Her medical books help her understand illnesses and added that a friend once gave her a book that helped a great deal when her son was diagnosed with cancer.

Mrs Piercey said it helped her to better understand what was going on.

At the moment, she is currently busy with a biography, based on her son’s life, who died of Lymphocytic Leukemia at the age of three. The book is currently being edited.

She is not stopping there and is currently performing extensive research for an adventure book, which will be based on different eras in history.