A new book on Bermudian folk remedies has proved so popular that book stores have sold out of copies just weeks after it went on sale.

And the Department of Community and Cultural Affairs is now rushing to print off a second edition of the book — ‘Bermudian Folk Remedies: Using Medicinal Botanicals for Common Ailments’, which was written by Kuni Frith-Black.

The book first appeared on shelves in January, with all 1,500 copies selling out within a month.

Folklife Officer Kim Dismont Robinson said: “It was a topic that we knew would generate interest in the community since many people are accepting more responsibility for their own well-being; and the oral history about folk medicine is still passed on, to greater and lesser extents, from generation to generation.

“However, we were nevertheless stunned by the overwhelming success of this book. We knew we had a best seller when our office began to experience brisk sales as well as daily request for restocking from the stores. Amazingly, the book was completely sold-out within the space of a month.”

The new edition includes an index of complaints, several additional recipes, different photographs of the stages of certain plants, and expanded tributes.

Community and Cultural Affairs Minister Wayne Scott added: “We are quite proud of this book and the tremendous amount of research and knowledge that Dr Kuni Frith- Black has brought to both the first and second editions.”

Dr Frith-Black will host a book signing on April 1 at her kiosk in the Washington Mall. The second edition of Bermudian Folk Remedies: Using Medicinal Botanicals for Common Ailments will be available exclusively April 1 until April 15, at Dr Frith-Black’s kiosk and the Department of Community and Cultural Affairs. After April 15, books will be in bookstores Island-wide.