We can feel a little bit cut off on our island, a bit parochial and caught up in our own local dramas, so for a bit of international perspective on the literature scene, ArtsHub reached out to US-based author, critic and host of the chart-topping and Signal award-winning podcast Missing Pages, Bethanne Patrick, for her perspective on some current and possibly future literary trends.
Sometimes I think in-house belief and support will carry a book through to the finish line! When I hear from someone in PR or marketing that everyone at an imprint is wild about a certain book, I pay attention, not because that means more money and power behind the book (although it often does!), but because it means the book probably appeals to many different kinds of readers. To me, that is what makes a book “too big to fail” – a wide readership. One book that springs to mind immediately is A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. Or The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. Or Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel.
