Susan Hill, who doubles as author of many novels and publisher of Long Barn Books, can be outspoken on her blog at times. One of her recent targets were the UK’s literary editors and how they are out of step with the times. One would think arbiters of criticism would have a thick skin, right? Well, not so much, as Hill found out last Friday. Though she isn’t naming names, the email “speaks volumes”: ‘After reading your Blog about Book Review pages, I would like you to know that no book either published or written by you will in future be reviewed on our Literary Pages. In the light of your expressed views, I am sure you will neither be surprised or distressed.’
Not surprisingly, the UK litblogosphere is abuzz with speculation as to whom the mystery editor could be. The Guardian’s Richard Lea, after making a host of unreturned calls, wondered “was it a hoax, or a bad joke, or did they really think that Hill would care – or even notice – if her books weren’t being reviewed by one of the UK’s host of literary publications?” A good question, though I’m inclined to believe it’s the real thing, mostly because the levels of pettiness are often very high when the stakes are fairly low…