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Is THIS the biggest book of 2021? Google lawyer’s debut novel inspired by real-life Californian ‘House of Horrors’ and abducted girl who swam to safety is bought for seven figures and is already tipped for a TV series Girl A is the debut novel from London-based Google lawyer Abigail Dean Tipped to be ‘one of … Read more
Queen in cream! Letizia of Spain looks pristine in a neutral frock as she joins her husband King Felipe VI for a private literary prize-giving ceremony Queen Letizia of Spain looked effortlessly elegant in a cream dress today Royal, 48, joined her husband King Felipe VI, 52, in Albeniz Palace in Barcelona They presented the poet Joan Margarit … Read more
Four authors have resigned from JK Rowling’s literary agency after accusing it of failing to issue a public statement in support of transgender rights and equality. Fox Fisher, Drew Davies and Ugla Stefanía Kristjönudóttir Jónsdóttir issued a joint statement to announce their resignation from The Blair Partnership. A fourth author is also understood to have … Read more
Four authors have resigned from JK Rowling’s literary agency after accusing it of failing to issue a public statement in support of transgender rights and equality. Fox Fisher, Drew Davies and Ugla Stefanía Kristjönudóttir Jónsdóttir issued a joint statement to announce their resignation from The Blair Partnership. A fourth author is also understood to have … Read more
Hay on WiFi! Literary festival goes virtual and will be free to view online thanks to £350,000 in donations Hay Festival forced to go online amid pandemic but still features famous lineup Some 80 live broadcasts and events to take place which are all free to view The festival was once described by Bill Clinton … Read more
Blundering VisitBritain tourism chiefs apologise after map celebrating UK’s best playwrights, authors and poets is slammed for leaving out literary greats from Wales or Scotland The tourism authority only showcased England in their map of ‘British’ greats Chiefs ‘sincerely apologised for this mistake’ after publishing the map on Twitter Celebrities including Huw Edwards and Cerys … Read more
1 Anne Glenconner published Lady In Waiting, in which she wrote about her life with Princess Margaret. What was the Princess’s customary way of requesting another drink? a) ‘What about another little drinkie-winkie?’ b) ‘Time for top-ups!’ c) ‘Did someone mention a re-fill?’ d) ‘I think we could all do with another glug-erooni, don’t you?’ … Read more
THE TOPEKA SCHOOL by Ben Lerner (Granta £16.99, 304 pp) THE TOPEKA SCHOOL by Ben Lerner (Granta £16.99, 304 pp) American auto-fiction star Ben Lerner’s third novel —which comes endorsed by the uber-cool likes of Sally Rooney and Maggie Nelson — is a potent, painful picking-apart of trauma; the beginnings of the age of information … Read more
OLIGARCHY OLIGARCHY by Scarlett Thomas (Canongate £14.99, 224 pp) by Scarlett Thomas (Canongate £14.99, 224 pp) We never see the oligarch in Scarlett Thomas’s latest: he’s a fabulously wealthy, shadowy Russian, possibly criminal, who has sent his adolescent daughter Natasha, the recently discovered product of a long-ago fling, to an all-girls English boarding school, ostensibly … Read more
OUT OF DARKNESS, SHINING LIGHT by Petina Gappah (Faber £16.99, 320pp) Set after the death of Victorian explorer David Livingstone, Petina Gappah’s novel is part of a trend for putting history’s supposed bit-part players centre-stage. Incredibly, Livingstone’s African retinue trekked across the continent so that his body could be buried in Britain. Gappah fictionalises two … Read more