The Adventures of Miss Barbara Pym by Paula Byrne – the ‘modern Jane Austen’?

This excellent cradle-to-grave biography of a much loved novelist who goes in and out of fashion captures her alarming habits and tormented love affairsIn 1971 the author Barbara Pym was at her day job at the International African Institute when she noticed “Mr C” laboriously attacking his lunchtime sandwich with a knife and fork. Pym made a mental note of the detail before asking herself ruefully, “Oh why can’t I write about things like that any more – why is this kind of thing no longer acceptable?” Ten years earlier, Jonathan Cape had dumped her after her sixth book on the grounds that her brand of anthropological observation of English social manners was old lady-ish, dull and didn’t sell. As an extra humiliation, no other publishing house had been interested in picking up Miss Pym: books built on “the daily round of trivial things” could hardly compete with Frederick Forsyth’s The Day of the Jackal or, if you were feeling fancy, Gabriel García Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude. Jonathan Cape had even published John Lennon (Pym liked the Beatles, but still). Clearly there was no place in contemporary literature for Mr C and his oddly formal way with a sandwich.There is nothing unusual about major minor novelists having a disappointing and disproportionate decline, followed by a posthumous flowering in reputation and sales. What’s unusual about Pym is that her phoenix moment came while she was still alive. In 1977 the Times Literary Supplement asked well-known... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2021-04-08 06:30:07 UTC ]

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Coates promoted at Vintage

Beth Coates has been promoted to the role of editorial director at Vintage Paperbacks. Coates will now be responsible for the day to day running of the paperback editorial team as well as continuing her work across Jonathan Cape. Her appointment follows the promotion of Rachel Cugnoni to the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-06-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Johnson short stories to Cape

Jonathan Cape has acquired a book of short stories by Daisy Johnson at auction. Editorial director Alex Bowler signed UK and Commonwealth rights to two books by Johnson from Jack Ramm at Eve White Literary Agency. Johnson is a 24-year-old prizewinning graduate of Oxford University’s Fiction... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-04-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishers bypass literary agents to discover bestseller talent

Cutting out the middlemen of the literary world can lead to the discovery of acclaimed authors such as Andrea BennettPublishers are playing literary agents at their own game, seeking out new talent for themselves and cutting out the industry’s powerful middlemen.Executives within HarperCollins,... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-02-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Self-published Chambers on Kitschies shortlist

A novel self-published following a Kickstarter campaign is competing against books from Jonathan Cape and Blackfriars in the best debut novel category at the Kitschies. The Kitschies, which covers novels containing elements of the speculative and fantastic, honours writing in four categories. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-02-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishers See Little Impact after Heaven Book Recant

Evangelical publishers are predicting little impact on sales and plans for future books about round trips to the hereafter following the admission by Alex Malarkey that the story he told in 'The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven' is false. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-02-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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New Rushdie novel coming this autumn

A new novel by Salman Rushdie being published this autumn will blend “history, mythology, and a timeless love story to bring alive a world - our world – that has been plunged into an age of unreason”. Jonathan Cape will publish Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights in September, seven... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-01-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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New roles for PRH's Franklin and Cugnoni

Dan Franklin is to step away from his divisional responsibilities at Penguin Random House’s Vintage, but will remain publishing director at Jonathan Cape. Meanwhile Rachel Cugnoni, publishing director of the paperback imprint, has been promoted to a new cross-divisional role as publishing... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-01-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Alison Weir signs six novel deal with Headline

Headline has acquired six novels by bestselling historian Alison Weir. Publishing director Mari Evans bought UK and Commonwealth rights to the books from Julian Alexander at Lucas Alexander Whitley. Weir’s non-fiction publishing will continue with Penguin Random House’s Jonathan Cape. The... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-11-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Death of publisher and author Raleigh Trevelyan

Tributes have been paid to author and former publisher Raleigh Trevelyan, who has died aged 91. Trevelyan, who passed away on October 23rd in Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, worked at Jonathan Cape and Michael Joseph, and also wrote a number of books for Faber, including a wartime memoir and... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-10-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Cape poets strong on T S Eliot shortlist

Jonathan Cape has three poets shortlisted for the T S Eliot Prize, which is to increase the winner’s award to £20,000 from 2015. The prize money, previously £15,000, has been increased to mark the 50th anniversary of T S Eliot’s death on 4th January next year, and each of the shortlisted poets... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-10-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Faber and Cape makes Wales Book of the Year shortlist

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[ The Bookseller | 2014-05-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Cape holds month of open submissions

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[ The Bookseller | 2014-04-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Epilepsy explored at Jonathan Cape

Jonathan Cape has bought a new book about epilepsy by writer and BBC Radio 4 science producer... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-02-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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More insects for Cape

Jonathan Cape has signed a second book from Samuel Johnson Prize shortlisted author Professor... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-11-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Cape in graphic novel partnership with Sequential

Jonathan Cape has partnered with software developer Panel Nine to bring its graphic novels to the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-08-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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My Metonym for Self-Reference Weighs a Ton

Since 2008, the year that David Foster Wallace committed suicide, there has been a steady stream of posthumous publications, none of which, as a matter of strict biblio-taxonomy, would have any business occupying the same section of your local ink-and-paper bookseller. We’ve had This Is Water... Continue reading at Slate

[ Slate | 2013-08-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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