The Guardian reports that Karen Jennings’ Booker Prize–longlisted novel AN ISLAND had a first printing of 500 copies, now enjoying more demand. The un-agented South African author says, “It was incredibly difficult to find a publisher… I finished the novel in 2017. And no one was interested.” Once it was eventually acquired by indie press Holland House, they couldn’t get any blurbs or reviews. “It’s not that I personally was expecting fame or fortune or anything, but I felt that I had disappointed them,” she said. “So it’s quite an extraordinary moment now to suddenly have all of this attention […]
