The Editor by Steven Rowley

The Editor by Steven Rowley | Expected publication: April 2nd 2019 by G.P. Putnam’s Sons  |  320 Pages | Goodreads

✅ PUBLISHER’S DESCRIPTION

“From the bestselling author of Lily and the Octopus comes a novel about a struggling writer who gets his big break, with a little help from the most famous woman in America.

After years of trying to make it as a writer in 1990s New York City, James Smale finally sells his novel to an editor at a major publishing house: none other than Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Jackie–or Mrs. Onassis, as she’s known in the office–has fallen in love with James’s candidly autobiographical novel, one that exposes his own dysfunctional family. But when the book’s forthcoming publication threatens to unravel already fragile relationships, both within his family and with his partner, James finds that he can’t bring himself to finish the manuscript.

Jackie and James develop an unexpected friendship, and she pushes him to write an authentic ending, encouraging him to head home to confront the truth about his relationship with his mother. Then a long-held family secret is revealed, and he realizes his editor may have had a larger plan that goes beyond the page…

From the bestselling author of Lily and the Octopus comes a funny, poignant, and highly original novel about an author whose relationship with his very famous book editor will change him forever–both as a writer and a son”

✅ REVIEW

THE EDITOR is written by the same author that wrote LILY AND THE OCTOPUS, which is a book I loved.

Imagine that, after pouring your heart into writing a book, a publishing house in NY calls you to have your work polished by an editor, and that editor is no other than Jackie Kennedy-Onassis!  I’d be so excited I’d pass away on the spot.

The novel follows the relationship between Jackie, the editor, and James, the writer, as they work together. We are exposed to the editing process and the story is narrated in a witty and humorous tone.

I enjoyed it (although not as much as I enjoyed LILY AND THE OCTOPUS, which left me emotionally punched and I’m still trying to recover), and highly recommend it to readers of contemporary and historical fiction.

Received ARC from the publisher via Edelweiss

✅ BOOK SOURCE AND FORMAT

ARC, ebook