I’ve been following a pile-on, reading endless online threads and watching videos of young women bursting with righteous indignation. They are all upset about one person: Sophie Lark.
Who is Sophie Lark? An independent sensation, a US bestselling author of romance fiction who was about to have her first novel out with a traditional publisher, Bloom Books. Not any more. The attacks have been so fast and furious that Bloom has pulled the book.
Romance author Sophie Lark.Credit: Facebook
What is Lark’s offence? Initially, just two lines spoken by her main character. The novel, Sparrow and Vine, is about a tussle between rival vineyard owners. At one point the heroine says: “Shouldn’t there be a crew of people with questionable work visas picking these grapes for us?” At another point, she says: “I was inspired by Elon Musk, I use his five-step design process.”
Nobody in the story challenges these remarks, but readers of advance copies of the novel pounced, accusing Lark of making racist comments about undocumented labourers and praising a notorious billionaire’s work methods.
My first reaction was to feel sorry for Lark. All this fussy nitpicking over the odd poorly chosen phrase, with the potential to fell her? It didn’t seem fair. But then I noticed she wasn’t exactly helping herself. She issued an apology that said she was trying to show a “flawed character” and that society had changed wildly since she wrote the book. As readers pointed out, undocumented immigrants and Elon Musk’s practices have been hot topics for years.
It didn’t stop there. Readers searched Lark’s earlier novels and came up with more quotes they found inflammatory: saying something was improbable “like an alliance between Israel and Palestine, or cats and dogs”. Or a black woman speaking of her white lover: “He can be my master and I’ll be his slave, if that’s what it takes to get him back.”
Lark, pictured here with her partner, says the controversial dialogue in question was “to show a flawed character”.Credit: Facebook
Among the shower of angry comments on social media, there are one or two from bewildered writers and readers. What does this mean? Are books no longer allowed to depict flawed characters? Can you no longer show a villain’s point of view?
The answer is that flawed characters are the lifeblood of fiction, and we need to know what makes villains tick. And writers should be free to write what they want. But it depends very much on how the writer does it. Like it or not, there are unspoken rules now that all publishers try to follow because they know if they get it wrong, there will be pile-ons, and they may lose a lot of money.
Looking back, I think Lark’s big mistake was to ignore the advice of her publishers. Bloom’s editors challenged the two lines that readers later found so offensive, but Lark refused to take them out. I can’t see how such small omissions would damage her story, and they could all have saved themselves from a disastrous outcome.
The message to writers is clear: if you suspect your story is even remotely capable of offending, get it checked out by a sensitivity reader. Publishers employ sensitivity readers, but writers are increasingly seeking feedback before they submit a manuscript. You don’t have to do what they suggest, but you reject their suggestions at your peril.
The most useful guide to cultural sensitivity I’ve found is by the writer Lucy O’Callaghan on writing.ie, with links to articles that offer further explanation. Here’s a tip about one thing a sensitivity reader does: “to improve the final manuscript by pointing out areas where the author has obvious blind spots”.
What a shame Lark’s blind spots have at least temporarily torpedoed her career.
Janesullivan.sullivan9@gmail.com
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