Gail Honeyman: ‘I didn’t want Eleanor Oliphant to be portrayed as a victim’

The Costa award-winning debut novelist on the kindness of Glasgow and becoming a full-time writer in her 40sGail Honeyman arrives in London trailing a wheelie-case, having travelled from Glasgow on a plane that was supposed to leave at 7am, but was delayed by the freezing weather. As we take the escalator up to liberate her of the case for a photocall, we muse on the peculiarity of a –7C ground frost stranding a plane which regularly flies at air temperatures of –40C.In ways that only those who have found themselves sucked into her award-winning debut novel will truly understand, this is an Eleanor Oliphant moment: it enfolds a stressful experience, stoically borne, in the beady intelligence of a woman who is rarely seen in public without a trolley-bag. The comparison has less to do with Honeyman herself than with the capacity of her writing to make everything seem a little bit strange, slightly dislocated from its face value. Related: Meet the new faces of fiction for 2017 I think there are a lot of Raymonds in the world – ordinary, kind, decent men who don’t often get featured in fiction Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2018-01-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'We are offering something people didn’t get before': inside gal-dem

The gal-dem collective is disrupting traditional media – all from their tiny HQ in a London car park If you wanted to find a kind of ground zero for gentrification, you could do worse than here: an office block carved out of a concrete multistorey car park in south-east London that now fizzes... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2018-08-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Pat Barker | 'I didn’t read ‘The Iliad’ until I was more than adult'

Pat Barker’s latest novel may be set 4,000 years ago but there are plenty of parallels with modernity. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-08-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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San Diego Comic-Con 2018: Comixology, Gail Simone, DC Universe Pricing and More

Among other announcements at San Diego Comic-Con, comics writer Gail Simone is joining Lion Forge, and Marvel is teaming with IDW to create comics and graphic novels for middle grade readers. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-07-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Honeyman heads the half-year pack as print market inches up once again

Solid but unspectacular growth in print value and volume has been posted through Nielsen BookScan in the first half of 2018, with range the key in the absence of a breakout trend. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-07-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Cole Burrows to the top; Oliphant hits half a million

After narrowly missing out on the top spot in the previous week, Martina Cole has returned to the summit, earning her 12th UK Official Top 50 number one—and 17th Mass Market Fiction pole position—since Nielsen BookScan records began. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-07-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Weekly E-Ranking: Kay climbs as Honeyman holds firm

The Oliphant is once again back in the room: since its 14-week streak at the top of the Weekly E-Book Ranking was brought to an end in mid-May, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine has adopted a one-week-on, one-week-off schedule, returning to the top spot for a third time in five weeks. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-07-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Weekly E-Book Ranking: Honeyman nears Hawkins' record

For a 16th week, Gail Honeyman's Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine is the Weekly E-Book Ranking number one. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-06-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Weekly E-Ranking: the second Honeyman

A week ago it seemed Eleanor Oliphant... had packed her trunk and bade farewell to the Weekly E-Book Ranking number one spot forever, but as the print charts have taught us, the Honeyman period is a long way from being over. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-06-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BookExpo 2018: Amber Tamblyn: No More Victims

Just weeks before the Harvey Weinstein scandal hit and the #MeToo movement went viral, actress, writer, and film director Amber Tamblyn wrote an ardent 'New York Times' editorial about how she was done with not being believed about her own harassment. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-06-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A student leader is the latest victim of France’s obsession with the hijab | Rokhaya Diallo

Media attacks on Maryam Pougetoux show how Muslim women are prevented from engaging in French public life“She wears a particular veil that covers all her hair, the neck: a hijab”. Last Tuesday on French TV two men – a pundit, Thomas Legrand, and celebrity host, Yann Barthès – described in detail... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2018-05-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Weekly E-Book Ranking: Gail prevails for 15th number one

While Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine vacated its print number one in the week this chart covers, Gail Honeyman is nowhere near done in the Weekly E-Book Ranking: The British Book Awards’ Book of the Year notched up a 15th week as the ebook number one. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-05-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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British Book Awards: Pullman and Honeyman dominate

Philip Pullman and Eleanor Oliphant author Gail Honeyman are honoured at the British Book Awards. Continue reading at BBC News

[ BBC News | 2018-05-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Honeyman claims seventh week at number one

Gail Honeyman's Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine (Harper) has once again topped the UK Official Top 50, selling 19,984 copies for £111,356. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-05-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Charts: the Oliphant is back in the room

Gail Honeyman's Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine (Harper) has returned to the UK Official Top 50 number one spot with 22,040 copies sold through Nielsen BookScan's Total Consumer Market, ousting Lee Child's The Midnight Line (Bantam). Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-05-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Here’s everything Mark Zuckerberg didn’t say, and probably won’t

Cambridge Analytica’s improper access to Facebook user data turned into a firestorm for the social media giant this past week. Four days later, CEO Mark Zuckerberg finally responded, publishing a Facebook post in which he made a familiar vow to do “what it takes to protect our community.” He... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2018-03-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Mozley, Honeyman and Hermes Gowar make Women's Prize longlist

Six debut authors, including bookseller Fiona Mozley, Gail Honeyman and Imogen Hermes Gowar, have been longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2018. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-03-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Weekly E-Ranking: Honeyman is Completely Fine

Here’s an interesting statistic: this Weekly E-Book Ranking is the first since launching in May 2016—that’s 95 weeks—in which no new title featured. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-03-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Weekly E-Ranking: The Honeyman isn't over

Gail Honeyman has scored a double: in the same week that Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine ascended to the print number one spot, the ebook edition of the title ousted Jojo Moyes’ Still Me from the Weekly E-Book Ranking top spot. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-02-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Prize for thriller novels without female victims draws mixed reactions

One female writer is setting up a book prize to reward the best crime novel in which no woman is the victim. Some – inspired by the #MeToo movement – are happy with the initiative, others fear it fails to address tough, real life issues.  Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2018-02-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Honeyman's debut claims the top spot

Gail Honeyman’s Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine (HarperCollins) has soared into the UK Official Top 50 number one spot, selling 29,442 copies for £170,329. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-02-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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