Greater Victoria readers are clearly excited about a memoir by Prince Harry that’s set to be released Tuesday — the Greater Victoria Public Library already has 407 holds, and has upped its original order of 39 copies to 59.
Publisher Penguin Random House has tried to keep the lid on details of the Duke of Sussex’s 416-page Spare by insisting on tight security by sellers, who signed documents saying they would not release it before Tuesday.
Even so, copies sold in Spain have been generating bombshell leaks in recent days.
Rachel Rogers, GVPL co-ordinator of collections and technical services, expects interest to only increase in the coming week.
“I think it is going to be massive,” said Rogers, adding once the book is released, the library will review its holds list and likely buy more copies.
The library will also have some copies available through its fast-reads service, which allows readers to check out a book for one week only.
Spare had not arrived at the library by Friday and Rogers thinks it may show up in fast reads later next week.
The Vancouver Island Regional Library system so far has 328 holds for Spare, plus another 116 holds for the large-print version, and 64 holds on the audio-book version.
Local bookstores do not release numbers of pre-sales, but say interest in Spare has been strong.
Colin Holt, manager of Bolen’s Books at Hillside shopping centre, said the store will have more than 100 copies on the shelves when it opens at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday.
Holt said he’s enjoying the anticipation surrounding the book. “Anything like this adds an extra level of energy to the store, so it is fun.”
At Russell Books on Fort Street, Andrea Minter, who manages the company with husband Jordan, said if the store’s copies of Spare sell out, distributors in Vancouver can provide more through a next-day service. “We have lots available to us.”
Jessica Walker, managing partner at Munro’s Books on Government Street, said it has a “pretty healthy” number of customers pre-ordering the book, and the list is growing daily.
Rogers said people are generally interested in biographies and memoirs, noting Michelle Obama’s books generated similar interest.
“When it’s someone famous, it’s like hearing about someone that you have only seen from the outside. Now you are getting the inside, right?”
Another factor could be plain old-fashioned neighbourly nosiness, after Harry and Meghan spent months with baby Archie at an 11,000-square-foot luxury home in North Saanich in 2020.
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