Is there anything Stranger Things star, actress, producer, welfare student (no, I have no idea), makeup and skin care mogul Millie Bobby Brown couldn’t do? Well, yes, in fact, one of the things she can’t do is write a novel, as she happily admitted as her debut, The Nineteen Steps, was published by HarperCollins last week.
Mills, as her all-natural slap line goes, worked with ghostwriter Kathleen McGurl to tell a story based on the blitz experiences of her own grandmother, Nanny Ruth. Ruth was one of the survivors of the horrific Bethnal Green tube station disaster in 1943, in which 173 men, women and children died walking down the steps to what should have been safety.
It was Britain’s worst civilian disaster of the Second World War and the largest loss of life on the London Underground system. The Nineteen Steps is not, by all accounts, a stunningly good book, but it is a good story, and an important one, but less told. It deserves to be in the world.
But, of course, when it became known about the publication of the book, all sorts of consternation arose. On one side was, “So these days you can become an author and not have to write it yourself… what’s the point of that?” the grouches who apparently think every autobiography is golden, intricately woven words about its subject only, and, on the other hand, those who chastised Brown for not putting McGurl’s name on the book’s cover next to her own (a marketing decision you don’t have to agree with to understand) – some of them right under an Instagram post in which she posted a photo of herself, McGurl and the book, with the caption “HUGE thanks to my co-author @kathleenmcgurl – I could I could I couldn’t do this without you! #nineteensteps”
Brown isn’t the first celebrity to hire a ghostwriter. The extremely entertaining autobiographies of Keith Richards and Slash were written in collaboration with James Fox and Anthony Bozza, respectively. The backlash against YouTuber Zoella using ghostwriters for her first novel in 2014 knocked her confidence, but didn’t stop her from publishing two more really decent books on her own; But Naomi Campbell’s novel “The Swan” from the 90s, which Campbell apparently “didn’t have time” to write, probably should have remained unwritten.
McGurl, who also writes her own novels, will be handsomely rewarded for the work, for which she says she was sent “a lot of research that Millie and her family had already done and a lot of ideas.” and spoke with Brown several times over Zoom before submitting his first draft. They held conversations together to promote the book. She was not hidden or ignored. Celebrities slap their names on all sorts of things they have little involvement in, from perfumes to clothing lines to nutritional supplements – it’s very much like here that most of the research was done by Brown and her family, which is definitely something Means.
Keith Richards worked with journalist James Fox to write his autobiography, Life.
I guess this is it… the end? The proliferation of celebrity fiction has actually increased the visibility of ghostwriters, which is damn hard work. The mastery of structure and ear required to create a readable and compelling book out of another person’s jumble of ideas and personality traits is vastly underappreciated and underappreciated.
In the past, there was a feeling that a ghostwriter was not a “real” author. And, of course, it is important that the work of “real” authors (your Sally Rooney, your Paddy and Tom Cruise, your Bernadine Evaristos) is supported, promoted and read. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for other authors if the books being published are worth reading.
One of Brown’s critics countered that she “should be ashamed,” which seemed like an exaggeration, and claimed that “ghost-written celebrity novels ruined children’s literature and are now doing the same to adult fiction.” I absolutely admit that there is a lot of disgusting crap out there that sells too many copies just because it was written (or not) by a popular figure. But ultimately, if (a big if, I know) publishers maintain a sense of perspective and keep an eye on future sales (if you want to create future classics and therefore long-term income, your best bet is to invest in lesser known but higher quality works) . and not putting all your eggs in the basket of fleeting popularity), then celebrity books can provide reluctant readers with the opportunity to discover the joy of losing themselves in another world. For example, studying Brown’s Nineteen Steps might lead to reading, say, Colm Tóibín’s Brooklyn or Kate Atkinson’s Afterlife.
Brown’s celebrity and vigorous promotion of the book will ultimately bring the little-told story to a wider—and global—audience. She not only acknowledged but enthusiastically praised her colleague McGurl, whose own book sales are likely to see a significant boost from the project. There’s nothing wrong with that, it’s just part of the ecosystem, the diverse landscape of the publishing landscape. Let’s just relax and explore it.
What did the culture editor do?
Beautiful thingTheater Royal Stratford East
God, remember how homophobic the nineties were? I was the same age as the teenage heroes of Jonathan Harvey’s seminal play when it was first produced in 1993, and watching it for the first time, I really understand why it was such a game-changer – a gay love that Shouldn’t you look if you’re injured? Without deep inner shame? What a damn joy. It runs until October 7th and you can hear about it on the Evening Standard Theater podcast when it airs on Sunday.
Did no one really care about what happened to Carlotta?
James Hannaham’s novel, which I devoured over a couple of days on a Greek beach last week, is an engrossing, rich and gripping visceral tale of trans woman Carlotta taking her first steps from restricted freedom into a changed Brooklyn after 20-plus years in prison upstate, serving time for a robbery at the wrong place at the wrong time. Simultaneously funny, hopeful and terrifying, it transports you not just to another place, but to another mind.