**FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE**
EDITORS: For review copies or interview requests, contact:
Balboa Press Marketing Services 0011-1-877-407-4847
Or Margaret Hepworth
0011-61422-154875
margarethepworth@y7mail.com
(When requesting a review copy, please provide a street address.)
Nelson Mandela Foundation grants Australian author permission to use Nelson Mandela as fictional character.
MELBOURNE, Australia – Author and educator Margaret Hepworth has been granted permission to use Nelson Mandela as a key fictional character in her novel Clarity in Time (published by Balboa Press). Her novel is now housed in the Nelson Mandela Foundation's Resource Centre.
Nelson Mandela sits in full-fledged discussion in a barren prison cell – Robben Island 1972. His counterpart is the still youthful Dirk Kortella, his Afrikaner jailer, a product of the vicious apartheid system. Mandela speaks of meaning through language, love, humanity and, what Hepworth describes as, ‘Almost Impossible Thoughts’. Kortella listens.
Yet this fictional novel, Clarity in Time, isn’t Mandela’s story. Rather its relevance lies in the connection to today’s world; it is the story of the ‘interested bystander’ finally taking action.
Young Australian teacher, Rosie O’Dea is a modern day hunter-gatherer. With emerging psychic abilities, she is a hunter of eclectic objects from her worldly travels, and a gatherer of knowledge, ideas and cultural constructs. In the ethereal state of a near-death experience that lasts for only milliseconds, Rosie must find moments of clarity in her own life and the lives of other people as they flash before her eyes to unravel secrets of time. Mandela ‘returns’ to teach Rosie an important lesson.
The book is about how every moment in your life prepares you for a bigger moment that requires you to apply all the lessons you have learned over time before it.
Clarity in Time has received excellent reviews in Australia, America and India.
“Taken clearly as a work of the heart, the care and craftsmanship put into the piece are palpable. (Hepworth has) written a truly beautiful story that demands to be shared and passed on…”
“This book is recommended to readers who like to pause for a moment or two in their daily lives to ponder over the philosophical and spiritual elements of life. “Clarity in Time” is a thought-provoking collection of those philosophical and spiritual elements.”
“Hepworth writes with great fervour. Her humour is well-executed through Rosie’s dialogues and narration. Also, in her writing, one comes across moments of mystifying poignancy and great romance.”
Hepworth says: “You can imagine how thrilled I was when I was granted permission by the Nelson Mandela Foundation of South Africa to use Mandela as a fictional character. Subsequently the permissions came rolling in: from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society to use controversial Captain Paul Watson in a cameo vignette, the de Bono Institute of Australia to reference the theories of creative thinker, Edward de Bono and even from the makers of Four Weddings and a Funeral for the use of one infamous line from that film.”
Like Mandela, Hepworth’s maxim is strength and hope in action. Its relevance to our current world is striking.
Clarity in Time
We all have moments of clarity; Hepworth’s are extraordinary.
About the Author
Margaret Hepworth of Australia holds a Masters of Educational Studies and is a passionate educator of social justice. Two “nearly grown-up” children and a loving, grounded partner keep her busy and happy. An avid traveler, she gains experience and inspiration from all corners of the planet. This is her first novel. www.margarethepworth@y7mail.com www.margarethepworth.com
Balboa Press, a division Hay House, Inc. – a leading provider in publishing products that specialize in self-help and the mind, body, and spirit genres. Through an alliance with indie book publishing leader Author Solutions, Inc., authors benefit from the leadership of Hay House Publishing and the speed-to-market advantages the self-publishing model. For more information, visit balboapress.com.
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