I am delighted to announce that my UK publishers, the talented husband-and-wife team that built both Alma Books and Alma Classics, will be publishing BUDDHALAND BROOKLYN in late February or early March in 2013.

BUDDHALAND BROOKLYN, to be published in the US July 17 by Scribner, is about a repressed Buddhist priest sent to New York to open a temple.

Alessandro Gallenzi and Elisabetta Minervini have created an author’s publisher in Alma Books, their passion for literature defying the cynicism of the modern book industry. They did a wonderful job publishing The Hundred-Foot Journey in the UK, and I can honestly say that their tag line – “A publisher with a soul” – pretty neatly sums up Alma Books.

If you doubt my word just read their recently published Brilliance by Anthony McCarten, a riveting tale about an impoverished Thomas Edison getting sucked into the bear-like embrace of the famous American banker, J. P. Morgan.

McCarten sure can write. The first line of the novel – “The inventor poured himself a glass of milk and listened for the twentieth century” – had me hooked. Alma Books quietly and consistently produces such intelligent, well-written books for discerning readers who love literature. So I am thrilled my scribbles are included in Alma’s exquisite portfolio of contemporary novels.