Categorising fiction may help to sell books, but it says little about how writers write or readers readIn her Reith lecture of 2017, recently published for the first time in a posthumous collection of nonfiction, A Memoir of My Former Self, Hilary Mantel recalled the beginnings of her career as a novelist. It was the 1970s. “In those days historical fiction wasn’t respectable or respected,” she recalled. “It meant historical romance. If you read a brilliant novel like I, Claudius, you didn’t taint it with the genre label, you just thought of it as literature. So, I was shy about naming what I was doing. All the same, I began. I wanted to find a novel I liked, about the French Revolution. I couldn’t, so I started making one.”She made A Place of Greater Safety, an exceptional ensemble portrayal of the revolutionaries Danton, Robespierre and Desmoulins, but although the novel was completed in 1979, it wasn’t published until 1992 – widely rejected, as she later explained, because although she thought the French Revolution was the most interesting thing in the world, the reading public didn’t agree, or publishers had concluded they didn’t. She decided to write a contemporary novel – Every Day Is Mother’s Day – purely to get published; A Place of Greater Safety emerged only when she contributed to a Guardian piece about writers’ unpublished first novels. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2023-11-27 12:30:00 UTC ]
It’s among the more playful matters on his mind in “Shattered,” a memoir of the injury that took away his ability to turn pages — but not his hunger to tell a story. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2025-01-30 10:00:13 UTC ]
More news stories like this
At 84, Edmund White is ready to kiss (to put it mildly) and tell ... well, everything. Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2025-01-28 16:56:52 UTC ]
More news stories like this
By the time I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings hit shelves in the first days of 1970, buzz about the memoir had been building for some time. Newspaper stories about its author, Maya Angelou—a well-known dancer, singer, and political activist—had been teasing the book for years; both Ebony and... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2025-01-28 09:57:54 UTC ]
More news stories like this
A cozy fantasy bodyguard romance, a darkly funny memoir exploring the toll of sexism, a new detective duo, and more of today's best book deals Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2025-01-23 17:04:23 UTC ]
More news stories like this
From forgotten historical disasters to pioneers of culture and technology, these historical fiction books about little known history bring the more obscure sides of history to light. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2025-01-22 14:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Activist, Spy, and Icon Josephine Baker's memoir, a bookish memoir about mental illness and identity by a literature professor, and more. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2025-01-21 13:30:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
This week's featured books include the follow up to IRON FLAME, new horror by 2024 Nobel Prize winner Han Kang, and a memoir by the most dangerous woman in Africa. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2025-01-21 13:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
From compelling historical fiction to high-speed thrillers, dive into this week's new YA releases. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2025-01-15 13:30:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
What roles do place and memory play in the construction of a narrative? In this conversation, memoirist Shze-Hui Tjoa and novelist Farah Ali talk about how these forces affect the storytelling in their respective books: The Story Game (Tin House, 2024), an interrogation of memory, childhood, and... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2025-01-13 09:56:58 UTC ]
More news stories like this
A Memoir About Having Undocumented Parents, One Woman Against the Hordes of Hell, a Chillingly Beautiful Mystery, and More of Today's Best Book Deals Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2025-01-11 12:30:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Gloria L. Huang on understanding herself and her family through The Babysitters Club and Sweet Valley Twins. | Lit Hub Memoir “Miles tells him he’s the man on the marquee, but the cop assaults him with his stick nonetheless.” Irvin Weathersby Jr. examines the effortless racism of America’s... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2025-01-08 11:30:31 UTC ]
More news stories like this
"These books feature a lot of real historical figures—something I always love in my historical fiction." What kind of historical fiction do you love? Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2025-01-08 11:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Jewish Life in Harbin, China: A Conversation with Jean Hoffmann Lewanda by Susan Blumberg-Kason Interviews [email protected] Tue, 01/07/2025 - 07:08 Shalama and Paul, Shanghai, 1950. Photo courtesy of Jean Hoffmann LewandaI met the author Jean... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2025-01-07 13:08:24 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Reagan Arthur picks up a memoir of solo travel, a pair of French sister-authors sell the story of their famous grandmother to Europa Editions, and more in this week’s book deals. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2025-01-03 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
He wasn’t just prolific, publishing 32 books. His output also showed an unusual range that included memoirs and forays into historical fiction and even poetry. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2024-12-30 10:58:27 UTC ]
More news stories like this
One library district is trying a new way of partnering with Colorado's business community in an effort to find innovative solutions. Continue reading at Silicon Valley Business Journal
[ Silicon Valley Business Journal | 2024-12-24 18:43:34 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Hilary Mantel stressed she was concerned with depicting the outer world faithfully but her chief concern was her character’s interior drama. This adaptation shows how much she strayed from that Continue reading at The Conversation
[ The Conversation | 2024-12-20 12:48:36 UTC ]
More news stories like this